Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun 28;1(4):211-219.
doi: 10.1002/2017GH000064. eCollection 2017 Jun.

Next-generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

Alexander F More  1   2 , Nicole E Spaulding  2 , Pascal Bohleber  2   3 , Michael J Handley  2 , Helene Hoffmann  3 , Elena V Korotkikh  2 , Andrei V Kurbatov  2 , Christopher P Loveluck  4 , Sharon B Sneed  2 , Michael McCormick  1 , Paul A Mayewski  2
Affiliations

Next-generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

Alexander F More et al. Geohealth. .

Abstract

Contrary to widespread assumptions, next-generation high (annual to multiannual) and ultra-high (subannual) resolution analyses of an Alpine glacier reveal that true historical minimum natural levels of lead in the atmosphere occurred only once in the last ~2000 years. During the Black Death pandemic, demographic and economic collapse interrupted metal production and atmospheric lead dropped to undetectable levels. This finding challenges current government and industry understanding of preindustrial lead pollution and its potential implications for human health of children and adults worldwide. Available technology and geographic location have limited previous ice core investigations. We provide new high- (discrete, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP-MS) and ultra-high resolution (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, LA-ICP-MS) records of atmospheric lead deposition extracted from the high Alpine glacier Colle Gnifetti, in the Swiss-Italian Alps. We show that contrary to the conventional wisdom, low levels at or approaching natural background occurred only in a single 4 year period in ~2000 years documented in the new ice core, during the Black Death (~1349-1353 C.E.), the most devastating pandemic in Eurasian history. Ultra-high chronological resolution allows for the first time detailed and decisive comparison of the new glaciochemical data with historical records. Historical evidence shows that mining activity ceased upwind of the core site from ~1349 to 1353, while concurrently on the glacier lead (Pb) concentrations-dated by layer counting confirmed by radiocarbon dating-dropped to levels below detection, an order of magnitude beneath figures deemed low in earlier studies. Previous assumptions about preindustrial "natural" background lead levels in the atmosphere-and potential impacts on humans-have been misleading, with significant implications for current environmental, industrial, and public health policy, as well as for the history of human lead exposure. Trans-disciplinary application of this new technology opens the door to new approaches to the study of the anthropogenic impact on past and present human health.

Keywords: Black Death; Colle Gnifetti; Europe; ice core; lead; pandemic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lead concentration in Colle Gnifetti ice core, from high‐resolution discrete ICP‐MS. The graph covers the period ~1–2007 C.E. The Black Death drop marks the years 1349–1353 C.E. The values below 1 ng/L here are calculated using semiquantitative calibration data. A gap in data of 90 years around ~500 C.E. is shown here linearly interpolated.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of annual layer counting using ultra‐high resolution LA‐ICP‐MS. Annual layers were identified as local maxima in the Ca profile corresponding to snow deposited during high summer season. Relative uncertainty in annual layer counting within the time period represented in this figure is around 1–2 years. Smoothing in this figure (black line) is displayed only as a visual aid.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pb crustal enrichment factor (EFc). The crustal enrichment factor calculations (using Wedepohl [1995] data set) are shown in the supporting information. The graph covers the period ~1–2007 C.E. The Black Death drop marks the years 1349–1353 C.E. The values below 10 here are based on semiquantitative calibration data.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Summer average atmospheric circulation (wind speed, m/s). NOAA/Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) 20th century reanalysis V2, JJA example 1984 is visualized using CCI's web‐based Climate Reanalyzer. The location of CG is highlighted with a star and major Pb/Ag mining centers with triangles 1347–1460 C.E. The size of triangle markers indicates approximate volume of production based on written sources.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Lead concentration in CG ice core, from ultra‐high‐resolution LA‐ICP‐MS, 1330–1360 C.E. (with an average of 279 measurements per year in 1349–1353). The grey histogram represents declining number of active major mining regions as they were progressively hit by the plague and ceased operations; the red histogram represents the number of mining regions resuming metal production, based on written sources. At present, there are no estimates of volume of aggregate metal production, and thus, the histograms reflect only regions that were active, not volume of Pb produced. The values below 1ng/L here are calculated using semiquantitative calibration data. Smoothing (black line) is provided only as a visual aid, while the red plot presents the raw data. As shown in the methods section in the supporting information, the LA‐ICP‐MS technique [Sneed et al., 2015] measures total element concentration; the spikes can thus be related to individual particles and/or storm event concentrations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Relation of blood lead levels and lead in gasoline: an updated systematic review.
    Angrand RC, Collins G, Landrigan PJ, Thomas VM. Angrand RC, et al. Environ Health. 2022 Dec 27;21(1):138. doi: 10.1186/s12940-022-00936-x. Environ Health. 2022. PMID: 36572887 Free PMC article.
  • Mobilizing the past to shape a better Anthropocene.
    Boivin N, Crowther A. Boivin N, et al. Nat Ecol Evol. 2021 Mar;5(3):273-284. doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-01361-4. Epub 2021 Jan 18. Nat Ecol Evol. 2021. PMID: 33462488 Review.
  • Human Health and Ocean Pollution.
    Landrigan PJ, Stegeman JJ, Fleming LE, Allemand D, Anderson DM, Backer LC, Brucker-Davis F, Chevalier N, Corra L, Czerucka D, Bottein MD, Demeneix B, Depledge M, Deheyn DD, Dorman CJ, Fénichel P, Fisher S, Gaill F, Galgani F, Gaze WH, Giuliano L, Grandjean P, Hahn ME, Hamdoun A, Hess P, Judson B, Laborde A, McGlade J, Mu J, Mustapha A, Neira M, Noble RT, Pedrotti ML, Reddy C, Rocklöv J, Scharler UM, Shanmugam H, Taghian G, van de Water JAJM, Vezzulli L, Weihe P, Zeka A, Raps H, Rampal P. Landrigan PJ, et al. Ann Glob Health. 2020 Dec 3;86(1):151. doi: 10.5334/aogh.2831. Ann Glob Health. 2020. PMID: 33354517 Free PMC article. Review.
  • High variability between regional histories of long-term atmospheric Pb pollution.
    Longman J, Ersek V, Veres D. Longman J, et al. Sci Rep. 2020 Dec 1;10(1):20890. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-77773-w. Sci Rep. 2020. PMID: 33262534 Free PMC article.
  • The Impact of a Six-Year Climate Anomaly on the "Spanish Flu" Pandemic and WWI.
    More AF, Loveluck CP, Clifford H, Handley MJ, Korotkikh EV, Kurbatov AV, McCormick M, Mayewski PA. More AF, et al. Geohealth. 2020 Sep 1;4(9):e2020GH000277. doi: 10.1029/2020GH000277. eCollection 2020 Sep. Geohealth. 2020. PMID: 33005839 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Allen, M. (2011), Silver production and the money supply in England and Wales, 1086 to c. 1500, Econ. Hist. Rev., 64, 114–131.
    1. Almada, A. A. , Golden C. D., Osofsky S. A., and Myers S. S. (2017), A case for planetary health/GeoHealth, GeoHealth, 1, 75–78, doi:10.1002/2017GH000084. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andersen, K. K. , et al. (2006), The Greenland ice core chronology 2005, 15–42 ka. Part 1: Constructing the time scale, Quat. Sci. Rev., 25, 3246–3257, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.08.002. - DOI
    1. Barnatt, J. , and Smith K. (2004), The Peak District Landscapes Through Time, pp. 111–113, Windgather Press, Macclesfield.
    1. Baron, S. , Carignan J., Laurent S., and Ploquin A. (2006), Medieval lead making at Mont‐Lozère Massif (Cévennes‐France): Tracing ore sources using Pb isotopes, Appl. Geochem., 21, 241–252, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2005.09.005. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources