ABSTRACT
Lead poisoning was certainly known in ancient times, as an occupational hazard among workers engaged in the mining or smelting of the ores, and from experience with patients who had swallowed lead salts accidentally or as victims of homicide. The suggestion that lead poisoning was the major cause of the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century was first made by Gilfillan in 1965 and has since been developed by other medical historians. There is little doubt that the aristocracy declined in numbers and intellectual ability. Though the hazards of exposure to lead have been well known for more than 2000 years, they have not yet been effectively controlled. In 1656 Samuel Stockhausen, works doctor at the lead mines of Goslar in Germany, declared that epidemics of colic, which were not uncommon, were caused by exposure to lead.
