Design With a Dark Side

The toxic effects of lead — which can cause everything from developmental delays and learning disabilities to hearing loss, seizures and death — have been a very big deal for a very long time. Some historians argue that lead-heavy diets and tainted water among aristocrats contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Contemporary accounts of Renaissance masters like Caravaggio and Michelangelo, in turn, speak of their wasted limbs — a result of the “painter’s disease” they suffered (after licking their brushes and long exposure to the fumes of their lead-based paint). Widespread acknowledgment and full awareness of those effects, on the other hand, didn’t occur until the 19th century — and the United States didn’t ban lead paint for more than a century after that. So, what took so long?