Lead pollution in ancient Rome likely dropped the average IQ, a study found. The research is based on an analysis of ice cores extracted from Greenland.

The new research adds context to a long-standing debate about the role lead pollution and poisoning may have played in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Some historians have argued that Roman elites and emperors who purportedly displayed odd,

Lead pollution might sound like a modern problem, but people were subjected to significant levels during antiquity, too.

Lead exposure is responsible for a range of human health impacts, with even relatively low levels impacting the cognitive development of children. DRI scientists have previously used atmospheric pollution records preserved in Arctic ice cores to identify periods of lead pollution throughout the Roman Empire,