Air pollution in antiquity

We are inclined to believe that air pollution is a modern phenomenon that started with the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, but recent research has shown that the problem existed already in Greek and Roman antiquity.

The first mining of metals started in the 6^th millennium BC but mass production was a Roman invention as they intensively used lead for the production of water pipes, household items, and to mint their silver coins. The smelting of lead releases toxic heavy metals into the air.

It has never been established, for instance, to what extend King Philip’s mines in Crenides, Stratonici, Skouries, and Olympiade on the east side of the Chalcidice peninsula, and Potidaea contributed to the air pollution (see: Macedonia's gold and silver mines today) .

Until now, scientists relied on the traces of metal trapped in Greenland’s ice but that is far away from the actual mine sites. At present, the concentrations have been measured in the deepest layers of ice on the Mont Blanc, which is geographically much closer to the source.

The study of alpine ice has revealed that lead emissions in antiquity increased the natural level by a factor of 10. By comparison, the use of leaded gasoline in Europe matched up to a factor of 50 to 100. The impact may not seem so important were it not that the Roman pollution spread over many centuries, while our leaded gasoline damaged our air quality for "only" 30 years or so.

Although the Roman smelting and mining activities went on for almost 500 years, it appears that they knew two peaks in atmospheric lead pollution, i.e., during the 2^nd century BC and again during the 2^nd century AD. The Romans mined lead all over Europe, from Iberia to Great Britain, and the production eventually declined gradually after the fall of the Empire in the 5^th century.

We look at the Roman Empire with its grand monuments and great works of art but never consider that all that wealth came at a very high price.

Today we aim to bring our air pollution back to standards from before the Industrial Revolution, but it is clear that it existed for a long time. To take the values from before the Industrial Revolution as a “clean” standard does no longer stand either. There were many ups and downs, like noted in the Middle Ages when mining activities almost became nil, particularly when the Black Death pandemic hit this part of the world in the mid-14^th century.

Beside the lead pollution, quantities of antimony were also released into the atmosphere. It is important to know that lead ores also contain elements like arsenic, copper, silver, and gold.