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A new study warns that digital devices and green energy sources, including solar panels, can increase the burden of metal pollution on human health.
Jerusalem, Israel – Toxic metals, like lead, are major components of the technology that people use on a regular basis around the world. However, harmful exposure to lead is not new. In fact, a new study reveals that humans have been absorbing these metals into their bodies for thousands of years. Researchers in Israel discovered lead contamination in human bones 12,000 years ago. They warn that modern technology can only make the problem worse.
A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined human remains in a cemetery in Italy that remained in use until the 17th century. Using fragments from 130 people at the Rome site, the researchers analyzed the makeup of chemicals in each person’s bones. Their findings reveal that the levels of lead pollution in human bones closely mirror historical rates of lead production in the world over the centuries.
The study authors add that as the world began to mine rare metals and produce more goods using them, the rate of lead uptake by people also increased. This is true not only for people most exposed to lead, but also for people who simply breathe it.
Lead’s long history with the human race
Today, many people probably think of lead as something found in paint and metal pipes. However, the first lead boom took place 2,500 years ago with the production of coins. According to researchers, this period reached its peak during the time of the Roman Empire before falling back to the Middle Ages. About 1000 years ago lead production increased again, triggered by the mining of silver in Germany. After that, expansion in the Americas and the Industrial Revolution took lead production (and exposure) to new heights.
“This documentation of lead pollution throughout human history indicates that, remarkably, much of the estimated dynamics of lead production is replicated in human exposure. Thus, lead pollution in humans closely followed their lead production rates, ”explains Professor Yigal Erel in a press release. “Simply put: the more lead we produce, the more likely people are to absorb it into their bodies. It has a highly toxic effect.
Green technology could worsen metal pollution
Despite global regulations prohibiting the use of many harmful toxins, the study’s authors claim that even today’s “cleanest” products can increase human exposure to toxic metals. In particular, the team notes that electronics, batteries, solar panels and even wind turbines are in high demand and can increase global levels of metal pollution. Erel says lead exposure occurs in all kinds of ways, from our food, to air pollution, to absorption through the soil.
“The close relationship between levels of lead production and levels of lead in humans in the past suggests that without proper regulation we will continue to experience the adverse health effects of toxic metal contamination,” warns the main author of the study.
Erel adds that even green technologies, like solar panels that deteriorate over time, release their toxic elements into the air we breathe when they break down. The result could lead future studies to find even more lead in our bones than ever before.
“Any increased use of metals must go hand in hand with industrial hygiene, ideally safe metal recycling and increased consideration of the environment and toxicology in the selection of metals for industrial use. “
The study appears in the journal Environmental sciences and technologies.
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