Prof. Yigal Aral: "In light of the expected dramatic increase in the production of lead and other toxic metals, we warn of a large-scale health risk, especially in countries where there is no regulation and orderly monitoring of environmental pollution and human poisoning"
Production and use of metals in general, and lead in particular, began about eight thousand years ago, at the beginning of the Chalcolithic period. Until the industrial revolution, minerals rich in lead were mainly mined because they sometimes contain silver. About five thousand years ago, a technology was developed that allows silver to be separated from lead-rich minerals, and as a result, people began to use pieces of silver for trade, a use that increased over time and gained momentum with the invention of coins, about 500 years BC. As a result, the amounts of lead mined in the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) gradually increased, reaching a peak in the Roman period. It is important to note that lead is an extremely toxic metal that, when absorbed by humans, is absorbed, among other things, into bones and teeth and damages many systems in the human body, including the nervous system and the brain, and even causes death. With the fall of the Roman Empire and the collapse of the economy in Europe, the amount of lead produced in these areas decreased for a certain period.
Previous studies that dealt with the documentation of the emissions of lead into the environment, examined the concentrations of the metal itself in ice and sediments during human history. A new study led by Prof. Yigal Aral from the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Department of Environmental Sciences at the Hebrew University examined for the first time in the world the concentrations of lead in human bones over an extended period of time. In a study published in one of the world's leading journals on science and the environment, ES&T, in which Prof. Liran Carmel, Adi Teicher and Ofir Tirosh from the Hebrew University, Prof. Ron Panhassi from the University of Vienna and Prof. Alfredo Cope from the University of Rome were also partners, the bones of about 130 people who lived in the area were examined Rome began in the period before the exposure to metals and up to the seventeenth century. Prof. Aral and the researchers showed how lead concentrations in human bones changed over time, and how this change faithfully follows the history of lead production. In other words, as more lead was produced, the concentrations of lead in the human body increased.
Prof. Aral: "Our research is the first to directly test the concentrations of lead in human bones over thousands of years in a defined and central location. We measured lead concentrations in the bones of people who lived in and around Rome from about 12,000 years ago to about 350 years ago. In this way, it was possible for the first time to examine the relationship between the rate of lead production and the concentrations of lead absorbed in human bones."
The main finding of the study is that lead concentrations in human bones change over time as a function of the mining rate of lead. That is, as the rate of lead production increased, people absorbed more lead in their bodies. The importance of the find is not only historical, but also very relevant today, as there is a significant increase in the production of lead and other toxic metals, which are necessary for the electronics and computer industry as well as for the production and storage of solar and wind energy.
"In light of the results of our research," said Prof. Aral, "we warn that many people are at a wide-scale health risk. In our estimation, the main harm will be to the populations of miners, workers in recycling plants, and operators of solar installations around the world, especially in countries where there is no regulation and orderly monitoring of environmental pollution and human poisoning."
