WASHINGTON. Ancient Greece, known for its groundbreaking contributions to democracy and philosophy, has now been revealed as the source of the earliest known evidence of lead pollution in the environment, dating back around 5,200 years. This discovery, made by researchers studying sediment cores from mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea, significantly predates the previous earliest recorded lead pollution by 1,200 years, which was found in a peat bog in Serbia.
Lead pollution in ancient Greece originated from the smelting of ore for copper and silver, a process that released toxic lead into the atmosphere. This lead would later settle as dust onto the soil. According to Joseph Maran, an archaeologist from Heidelberg University and co-author of the study published in Communications Earth and Environment, “Silver was used for jewelry, for special objects — but it wasn’t found in a pure state,” meaning it was often mined as part of an ore mixed with lead.
The earliest signs of lead contamination were found in northeastern Greece, near the island of Thasos, a key site for silver mining and metalworking in antiquity. Maran noted that Thasos was one of the region’s most significant locations for these activities.
Historian Joseph Manning of Yale, who was not involved in the study, stated, “Lead released from smelting is the world’s first form of toxic or industrial pollution.”
The study shows that while lead contamination was relatively low and localized throughout the Bronze Age, Classical Period, and Hellenistic period — eras known for the rise of Athenian democracy, the philosophical teachings of Socrates and Plato, and Greece’s cultural influence across the Mediterranean — things changed around 2,150 years ago. The researchers observed a sudden spike in lead emissions that coincided with the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 B.C.
Andreas Koutsodendris, co-author of the study, explained that the Roman expansion led to an increase in silver coin production, which required smelting processes that released higher levels of lead. “Roman trade, colonies, and shipping expanded across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and the demand for silver coins grew rapidly,” said Koutsodendris.
Later, the Romans used lead not only in coin production but also for tableware and in construction materials, such as pipes. Previous research, including ice core analyses from Greenland, also detected elevated lead levels during Roman times across much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, this new study provides a more detailed and localized view of how lead levels fluctuated during that period.
Nathan Chellman, an environmental scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno, who was not part of the research team, emphasized the significance of the findings, stating that the study “adds a more specific and local picture to how lead levels changed.”
This discovery sheds new light on the early environmental impact of human industrial activities and how the ancient world contributed to the emergence of toxic pollution.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
