Re: [OT] DU
From: Noah Roberts (nroberts_at_dontemailme.com)
Date: 11/11/03
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Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 21:07:43 -0800
CBFalconer wrote:
> Alan Balmer wrote:
>
>><nroberts@dontemailme.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Anthony Ventimiglia wrote:
>>>
>>>>Noah Roberts <nroberts@dontemailme.com> writes:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>People aren't stupid enough to solder that contains lead when
>>>>>doing plumming. It is a well known fact that lead causes
>>>>>nervous system disorders and you don't want it in you. There
>>>>>are laws in place to prevent its use in things like plumming
>>>>>and paint for just this reason. Lead is very poisonous.
>>>>
>>>>When's the last time you've sweated a pipe ?
>>>
>>>A couple of years ago.
>>>
>>Although some jurisdictions have indeed outlawed lead solder for
>>plumbing, it's pretty much a red herring, imo. Tin-lead solder
>>was used routinely for decades, and did not cause an epidemic of
>>system disorders.
>>
>>Paint is another matter, because it tends to chip off where
>>young children can eat it.
>
>
> Also pure lead piping, which the Romans and Bennington Vermont
> used until quite recently.
>
Interesting that you bring that up. Short google search turned up
http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/hist1/1ancient.html :
" 100 AD -- Occupational disease is well known in ancient Rome.
Workers in lead and mercury mines and smelters are known to suffer from
the metals, according to Rome’s famous engineer Vitruvius. While
slaves are often used in the lead and mercury mines, Plutarch recommends
that only criminal slaves be used. It was not just, he said, to expose
non-criminals to these conditions."
" 100 AD - 400 AD – Decline of Roman Empire may have been partly due to
lead poisoning, according to modern hi storian and toxicologist Jerome
Nriagu. Romans used lead acetate ("sugar of lead") to sweeten old wine
and turn grape pulp into a sweet condiment. Usually the acidic wine or
pulp was simply left in a vat with sheets of lead. An aristocrat with a
sweet tooth might have eaten as much as a gram of lead a day. Widespread
use of this sweetener would have caused gout, sterility, insanity and
many of the symptoms which were, in fact, present among the aristocrats.
High levels of lead have been found in the bones of aristocratic
Romans. Far more than simply using lead pipes or lead utensils, the
direct consumption of lead-sweetened wine and foods created serious and
widespread lead poisoning among upper-class Romans."
-- Noah Roberts - "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention."
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