Silver fueled the rise of the Roman Empire. But the ancient process of mining and extracting silver was also making the air thick with lead, scientists found.

People living during the golden age of the Roman Empire experienced an average 2.5 to 3 point reduction in IQ due to atmospheric lead, according to a study published January 6 in the journal ...

Roughly 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire was flourishing. But something sinister was in the air. Literally. Widespread pollution in the form of airborne lead was taking a toll on health and ...

Atmospheric lead pollution likely caused cognitive decline among citizens of the Roman Empire, according to research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They identified the level of pollutants in three ice cores that dated between 500 B.C.E. through 600 C.E. — the era spanning the rise of the Roman Republic through the fall of the Roman Empire. Then ...

Although the team obviously can’t tie zircon minerals to the Roman Empire’s collapse, their lengthy migration inside frozen chunks of glacier further underscore the 6th century ice age’s ...

Roman Empire’s lead pollution was high enough to lower IQs: Study. The findings would make the roughly 200-year span of Pax Romana one of the earliest examples of industrial pollution.