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Comment by sircastor | Hacker News Reader

Neil deGrasse Tyson said in an episode of Cosmos that even the Romans understood lead was dangerous, but it was a convenient metal to work with, so they used it anyway

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More than just dangerous, it was a known death sentence to be working in lead mining/smelting and a common poison [https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/lead-poisoning-historic...].

Like you note, it was also extremely convenient and relatively cheap. Pretty sure at least some of the chemicals we’re using now in soaps or for food processing will have something nasty associated with them once time has passed.

It will probably be Triclosan:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triclosan#Health_concerns

It's already been phased out

And not just and convenient metal, but a preferred food and wine sweetener. For real!

They should have used diethylene glycol, like the Austrians:

https://www.thewinestalker.net/2015/04/austria.html

I wonder which tastes better?

Also an important pigment (white lead), which was not only widely used in paints until the 20th century (though the US amongst others still hasn't signed the 1923 white lead convention), but also hugely popular cosmetics (skin whiteners): lead powder, lead paints, lead/mercury, lead/vinegar (venetian ceruse).

Roman's also knew asbestos was bad. It was well documented that sending a slave to work in asbestos mines meant they would get lung sickness, and some slaves tried using masks made of pig bladder when mining.

Citation needed. Seems that the few available Roman primary sources do not support it: Rachel Maines "Asbestos and Fire" pp. 27-28 https://books.google.com/books?id=5r2jEGLvxP4C&pg=PA28

AFAIK work in any Roman mine was considered a death sentence in the long run.

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