Metal pollution might just be another danger caused by our modern lifestyle. Toxic metals are commonly found in many products people use every day, from smartphones to toothpaste. But how much do you really know about toxic metals? How can you be sure that what you are putting into your body is free of these harmful chemicals? As it turns out, lead contamination is normal for humans, and human remains from 12,000 prove it. However, modern technology might make this issue more dangerous.
Researchers from Israel believe that our devices, as well as green energy sources, might in fact, be more dangerous than we thought. The team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem looked at the bones of humans from the 17th century. It concluded that they have lead levels of pollution that matched the increasing rates discovered in humans from different centuries. According to scientists, as people began mining for rare metals and using them, lead pollution levels increased.
The first major increase took place when coins were first produced, more than 2500 years ago. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the levels decreased again, only to rise to record levels after the Industrial Revolution.
“This documentation of lead pollution throughout human history indicates that, remarkably, much of the estimated dynamics in lead production is replicated in human exposure. Thus, lead pollution in humans has closely followed their rates of lead production. Simply put: the more lead we produce, the more people are likely to be absorbing it into their bodies. This has a highly toxic effect,” noted Professor Erel Yigal.
As it appears, we are living in the worst era so far regarding metal pollution. The use of metals in many of the items we use has increased human exposure. The study mentions batteries, electronic devices, as well as wind turbines and solar panels. The problem with green technology is that the air becomes polluted with toxic elements as they start to degrade in time.
