Mike Andrews wrote:

Al wrote:

In article ,
kenneth scharf wrote:


Like I said the word 'plumber' comes from the latin plumbum meaning
lead. Ancient Rome was the first to use lead pipes. Could be why
Nero was mad as a hatter.


I heard this. Their wine was being drunk from lead-lined flasks.


Well, no, not so far as I've found. But they _did_ use lead water
piping, and they _did_ use lead acetate ("sugar of lead") as a
condiment.

The first is bad only where the water's mildly acidic.

The _second_ is Just Plain Bad.


Here is a good link on lead compounds:


http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/hydro/pb.htm

- Mike -