The oldest evidence for lead pollution comes from ancient Greece

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Ancient Greece produced the earliest records of democracy, western philosophy — and, it turns out, lead pollution.

Researchers studying sediment cores recovered from mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea have found the oldest known evidence of lead pollution in the environment dating to around 5,200 years ago.

That’s 1,200 years older than the previous earliest recorded lead pollution, which was found in a peatbog in Serbia.

In antiquity, lead was released into the atmosphere as a byproduct of smelting ore for copper and silver. The toxic metal later condensed as dust and settled onto the soil.

https://apnews.com/article/ancient-greece-lead-pollution-f0dbc3d8b86674e761749411ed72c9af

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1. Lead water pipes are still in use in the U.S.