EcoPast (GI-1553), Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain; Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Wallenberglaboratoriet, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden; Laboratorio de Antropología Física, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18012, Spain.
Dept. Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; The Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Mar 25;710:136319. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136319. Epub 2019 Dec 30.
Atmospheric metal pollution is a major health concern whose roots pre-date industrialization. This study pertains the analyses of ancient human skeletons and compares them with natural archives to trace historical environmental exposure at the edge of the Roman Empire in NW Iberia. The novelty of our approach relies on the combination of mercury, lead and lead isotopes. We found over a 700-year period that rural Romans incorporated two times more mercury and lead into their bones than post-Romans inhabiting the same site, independent of sex or age. Atmospheric pollution sources contributed on average 57% (peaking at 85%) of the total lead incorporated into the bones in Roman times, which decreased to 24% after the decline of Rome. These values and accompanying changes in lead isotopic composition mirror changes in atmospheric Pb deposition recorded in local peatlands. Thus, skeletons are a time-transgressive archive reflecting contaminant exposure.
大气金属污染是一个主要的健康问题，其根源可以追溯到工业化之前。本研究分析了古代人类骨骼，并将其与自然档案进行比较，以追溯罗马帝国边缘的伊比利亚西北部的历史环境暴露情况。我们方法的新颖之处在于汞、铅和铅同位素的结合。我们发现，在 700 年的时间里，农村罗马人摄入的汞和铅是同一地点后罗马时期居民的两倍，而不论性别或年龄。大气污染来源平均贡献了罗马时期骨骼中总铅含量的 57%（峰值为 85%），而罗马衰落之后这一比例下降到 24%。这些值以及铅同位素组成的相应变化反映了当地泥炭地记录的大气 Pb 沉积的变化。因此，骨骼是一个反映污染物暴露的时间推移档案。
