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 | | From: | Allan Adler | | Subject: | lead in Rome | | Date: | 02 Jan 2005 15:32:26 -0500 |
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I read a recent Science News article that said that the Romans were
aware by the 2nd century AD of the toxicity of lead. What ancient
authors commented on this and when was this knowledge incorporated
into public policy?
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
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| | From: | Hartmut Gastens | | Subject: | Re: lead in Rome | | Date: | Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:26:50 +0100 |
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| Allan Adler schrieb:
>
> I read a recent Science News article that said that the Romans were
> aware by the 2nd century AD of the toxicity of lead. What ancient
> authors commented on this and when was this knowledge incorporated
> into public policy?
Vitruv, De architectura VIII 10-11
[10] Habent autem tubulorum ductiones ea commoda. Primum in opere quod
si quod vitium factum fuerit, quilibet id potest reficere. Etiamque
multo salubrior est ex tubulis aqua quam per fistulas, quod per plumbum
videtur esse ideo vitiosum, quod ex eo cerussa nascitur; haec autem
dicitur esse nocens corporibus humanis. Ita quod ex eo procreatur,
id est vitiosum, non est dubium, quin ipsum quoque non sit salubre.
[11] Exemplar autem ab artificibus plumbariis possumus accipere, quod
palloribus occupatos habent corporis colores. Namque cum fundendo
plumbum flatur, vapor ex eo insidens corporis artus et inde exurens
eripit ex membris eorum sanguinis virtutes. Itaque minime fistulis
plumbeis aqua duci videtur, si volumus eam habere salubrem. Saporemque
meliorem ex tubulis esse cotidianus potest indicare victus, quod omnes,
et structas cum habeant vasorum argenteorum mensas, tamen propter
saporis integritatem fictilibus utuntur.
greetinx
Hartmut
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| | From: | John W. Kennedy | | Subject: | Re: lead in Rome | | Date: | Sun, 02 Jan 2005 21:11:16 -0500 |
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| Allan Adler wrote:
> I read a recent Science News article that said that the Romans were
> aware by the 2nd century AD of the toxicity of lead. What ancient
> authors commented on this and when was this knowledge incorporated
> into public policy?
I can't name sources, but it is my understanding that they were only
aware of the danger of inhaled lead-bearing dust in mines.
--
John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract,
Man only earns and pays."
-- Charles Williams. "Bors to Elayne: On the King's Coins"
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| | From: | Allan Adler | | Subject: | Re: lead in Rome | | Date: | 03 Jan 2005 11:47:57 -0500 |
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| "John W. Kennedy" writes:
> I can't name sources, but it is my understanding that they were only
> aware of the danger of inhaled lead-bearing dust in mines.
The Science News article was about a container of some facial ointment,
15 percent of which was made of a compound of tin. They remarked that one
might have expected a lead compound, but that the Romans were aware of the
toxicity of lead by the 2nd century AD.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
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