Lead pollution from Roman mining and metal production may have lowered intelligence levels across the vast Roman Empire nearly 2,000 years ago, new research suggests. Scientists from the Desert Research Institute in Nevada say their findings connect ancient industrial activities to widespread cognitive impairment.

The new research adds context to a long-standing debate about the role lead pollution and poisoning may have played in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Some historians have argued that Roman elites and emperors who purportedly displayed odd,

Atmospheric lead pollution likely caused cognitive decline among citizens of the Roman Empire, according to research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers analyzed ice core records for an approximately thousand-year period corresponding roughly with the period from the Roman Republic through the decline of the empire,

Lead records from Arctic glaciers indicate that people all over Europe would have been affected by pollution from metal smelting during the Roman era

A new study turned to Arctic ice core records between 500 BCE through 600 CE to find a link between lead pollution and widespread health decline in the Ancient Roman Empire, which most likely lowered the IQs of 80 million people.

Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire hummed with activity. Roads stretched like arteries, connecting distant provinces. Mines yielded treasures buried deep in the earth, and smelters worked tirelessly to transform raw silver ore into the coins that fueled an empire.

Lead exposure has left its toxic fingerprints all over history. We’ve come a long way in reducing its presence, but […]