Caligula, the notoriously erratic Roman emperor known for his bloodthirsty cruelty, probably also possessed a nerd's ...

More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff ...

Ancient DNA evidence shows that the advent of agriculture led to more infectious disease among humans, with pathogens from ...

Lead poisoning may have played a role in the death of fraternal twin babies from 2,000 years ago found buried facing each other in Croatia, according to a new study. Though it’s unclear exactly ...

And there was a study released earlier this month that suggested lead pollution in the air from 27 BC to AD 180, due to smelting, may have led to cognitive decline in the citizens of the Roman Empire.

The research team believes that this large-scale lead pollution was caused by silver mining and smelting, which supported the ancient Roman economy, and estimates that as much as 500 kilotons of ...

Lead pollution spikes again as it is increased because of the extension and expansion of the Roman Empire, which has been driven majorly by the silver mining activities and high industrial activities.

Silver fueled the rise of the Roman Empire. But the ancient process of mining and extracting silver was also making the air thick with lead, scientists found.

The extraction and smelting of metals in the Roman Empire between 100 BCE and 200 CE contributed to lead emissions, likely causing a population-wide drop in IQ of about 2.5 to 3 points.

Roman Empire’s lead pollution was high enough to lower IQs: Study The findings would make the roughly 200-year span of Pax Romana one of the earliest examples of industrial pollution Washington Post ...

While lead poisoning through contaminated food and wine was more likely to be a concern for the upper classes, the entire population would have inhaled airborne lead produced from the empire’s huge ...