Could lead affect musical ability?

[MrGongGong]

A distance cousin of Man Ray and Man Friday, perhaps.

[edashtav]

A few years ago, Dr David Hunter of the University of Texas at Austin claimed that Handel died of years of binge eating (Bulimia?) and lead poisoning from wig powder (100% white lead) and port wine that had been made in lead stills, stored in decanters [lead glass] and finally from lead ethanoate added in Britain as a sweetening agent to cover any deterioration due to oxidation of alcohol to ethanoic acid.

Lead poisoning is associated with bad temper - Handel showed that symptom.
It also causes pains throughout the body that vary in position and intensity day by day - Hndel suffered greatly in his final decade.
And.. progressive cognitive dysfunction - Handel kept composing through thick & thin until he was beaten by poor eyesight!

But... it has been argued that we may owe some of Handel's greatest music, in his late oratorios, to his own, intimate knowledge of human suffering.

[Serial_Apologist]

No lead in the bonaparte pencil then?

A sharp observation which knew just where to draw the line...

[edashtav]

"Bret Michaels is an American musician known for his work as the lead singer in the glam-metal band Poison."

[Serial_Apologist]

"Bret Michaels is an American musician known for his work as the lead singer in the glam-metal band Poison."

You've been mislead there I think.

[edashtav]

You've been mislead there I think.

Nice one, S-A!

[Flosshilde]

Napoleon's hair shows high levels of arsenic.
Its oxide was a frequent remedy for V.D.
Three side effects have been noted:
Beautiful smooth skin and fine hair
Man boobs.
Erectile Dysfunction

Gives a twist to "Not tonight, Josephine."

Oscar Wilde's reputed last words were 'Either that wallpaper goes, or I do". As arsenic was a major ingredient in some inks (especially green) used in printing wallpaper, and I believe gave off a poisonous gas in damp conditions, he was probably more accurate than he realised!

White lead was an ingredient in cosmetics - Elizabeth I used it on her face and breasts (although it seemed to have little effect on her), and in white glaze commonly used to give a white background for other decoration. Before it was discovered how to 'fix' this & render it safe it would leach out when dishes were used for acidic food & drink.

It does seem that it would have been almostr impossible to avoid absorbing lead in the past. Presumably those sources diminished as lead was introduced into petrol, otherwise there would have been a surge in crime at that time (if the thesis in the original post is true).

[Pabmusic]

...It does seem that it would have been almostr impossible to avoid absorbing lead in the past. Presumably those sources diminished as lead was introduced into petrol, otherwise there would have been a surge in crime at that time (if the thesis in the original post is true).

I'm not sure there was enough lead around to compare with the effects of leaded petrol. Ice core samples show there was virtually none in the atmosphere before the 1920s, but then there was a huge amount. That was the main evidence for the change to unleaded petrol (beginning in the 60s). Compared with that, wallpaper and fancy china (who had those anyway?) and even lead plumbing (not much of a problem if you had no running water) amounted to very little.

[Flosshilde]

But lead from pipes, drinking vessels, pottery, paint etc wouldn't have been present in the atmosphere, but absorbed directly by people from the objects (or by drinking the water & eating the food from them). The article I linked to above quotes research showing that skeleton remains from Imperial Rome (where lead pipes & storage vessels were used widely) had "lead levels over 20 mg/kg, which is 20 times higher than modern recommendations! In fact, this level is two times higher than the level the WHO considers "very severe lead poisoning."

Lead glazes were used on fairly cheap pottery, to imitate the whiteness of more expensive porcelain. In the 19th century, at least, wallpaper became cheap (because of cheap printing methods and dyes) & could be used in poorer, working class homes (which would most likely be damp).

[Pabmusic]

...absorbed directly by people from the objects (or by drinking the ater & eating the food from them)...

Well, I can't deny that there was some lead around. It's the scale that people don't appreciate. The first real alert to the dangers of leaded petrol came in 1946, when Clair Patterson (a man, as it happens) measured levels of atmospheric lead about 200 times higher than modern recommendations. Lead was of course widely used (toothpaste tubes, for instance), which was bad enough, but nothing compared to lead in petrol because it poisoned the atmosphere.

This recent study seems interesting. If true (and it looks as though it can't be dismissed out of hand) it might help explain the growth in crime since WW2 and the fall in crime in the last 20 years. 20 years is important since it's the age at which those who were born breathing 200 times the recommended levels of lead become young adults (by far the most vulnerable 'criminal' age).