It happened during ancient Greece. Geoscientific from Heidelberg University (Germany) found evidence. The Aegean Sea was contaminated 5,200 years ago, by lead.
Lead pollution began approximately 1,200 years before what was previously believed. The expansion of the Roman Empire through the Aegean region caused a significant increase in lead pollution in the region about 2,150 years ago. The university reports it in a statement.
Tracking lead
They analyzed the lead content of marine sediment cores extracted from the other side of the Aegean Sea. Also a sediment core extracted from Tenaghi Philippon, located in the northeast of Greece. Next, they analyzed the pollen content and spores of several of the nuclei. They combined them with similar existing data for the region and the data on lead content. They sought to investigate how the ecosystems of the region were affected by the social and cultural changes of the time.
The findings include the first registered signal of probable lead contamination caused by man. The Aegean Sea was contaminated 5,200 years ago. This is approximately 1,200 years before the first lead contamination allegedly recorded above. It had been detected in peat nuclei on the Balkan peninsula.
Roman expansion
The authors also suggest that a change in the vegetation record. This adds to an increase in the lead signal of contamination about 2,150 years ago. They are most likely related to the expansion of the Roman Empire in ancient Greece at that time. This period was marked by a significant increase in gold, silver and other metals mining for use in currencies and other articles.
The increase in the lead signal of contamination includes the first presence of lead in marine sediment nuclei. The authors suggest that it is the first probable lead pollution recorded in a marine environment.
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