Mercury pollution in ancient maya cities was and still is a problem
In the News
Researchers have found extremely dangerous levels of mercury in the ground of Mayan cities in Mexico
They are suggesting that this could have caused the extinction of that civilisation around 250 and 1100 CE
Chronic mercury poisoning causes damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver, trembling, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, as well as mental health problems
Tha experts say the Mayans used mercury extensively particularly in paints etc
A strange side effect of mercury poisoning is obesity , which in itself is a health concern
I suppose not knowing the dangers thousands of years ago is understandable if you compare it to the dangers of asbestos which was fairly recent
www.sciencealert.com/ancient-maya-cities-appear-to-have-been-riddled-with-mercury-pollution
Asbestos was mined by the romans. We know a lot about that because of Pliny the Elder's encyclopedia where it was called rock cloth or something like that. I think there was some knowledge about health risks with asbestos in roman times but because of the delay before symptoms happen it wasn't taken seriously.
Victorian times did a lot of stupid stuff with dangerous chemicals too. Probably in a 100 years they won't believe some of the things we do and the damage it caused to our health.
BonzoBanana Thats true B, theres so much abundance of chemicals etc in our food and environment nobody really knows the full extent of the damage yet
telmel Evidence will build up though and we will start understanding what is the most damaging that we may not realise now or maybe not even in the next 50 years. I hate gardening but growing your own veg is probably one of the best things you can do for your health.
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