Carly Cassella comments on a study, over 12000 years, of heavy metal intoxication. The true start is the Chalcolithic 3000ish BC which is when Europeans started to figure out how to melt the lower-point metals.
Meaning: lead. (Mercury would apply too.) Cassella says that lead, like strontium, replaces calcium in bones. For chemical reasons, rather than the isotopal reasons of some strontia; you should prefer to have the calcium.
Lead became a semiprecious metal, they say, about 500 BC with the rise of coinage - by that, they mean debased coinage, as pewter took over from Croesus' pure silver. But also lead was found useful as a sealant for aqueducts. The Romans figured out that Plumbus was Bad For You, and likely pretty soon since it was that obvious; but - what was the alternative?
Not debasing the coin, one might have told 'em... nah, that's crazytalk. Ron Paul talk. Problematic. Ay that's a cheap shot for our time; we're not worried about bad metal in our coins.
Cassella is warning us, for our time, about bad metals in our batteries. We're told (not by our plantlife) it is bad to put carbon in our air. So we're to use the Power Of Chemistry to store the energy. But batteries degrade. Further-unfortunately they degrade chemically, which means the elements don't change, which means the heavy metals are still there.
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