[Lead and health during antiquity]

The possibility of widespread lead exposure during antiquity has awakened interest during the last few decades. The purpose of this study was to examine: 1) possible sources of lead exposure, 2) ideas concerning the health hazards of lead, 3) the extent of lead exposure, and 4) the influence of lead on public health during antiquity. Both written and archaeological data seem to prove that part of the population was exposed to lead during antiquity. Occupational exposure was most probably most important, but food and wine also played a part. The role of water in this context is hard to evaluate. Lead exposure by medical and cosmetic use was most probably epidemiologically unimportant. Evidently some population groups occasionally suffered from lead poisoning. There is, however, no reason to suppose that lead had something to do with the fate of the Roman aristocracy or the collapse of the Roman Empire.