In addition to what was in the article, it was my impression that it  
was "common" (although this may be apocryphal) that many Romans  
"sweetened" their wine by putting it in lead glazed urns. This at one  
point was given as a possible contributer to the decline and fall. I  
know that for years people were warned to not put acidic things, like  
wine and orange juice, in the folk pottery pitchers they purchased in  
Mexico and points south. It is my understanding that a properly fired  
lead glazed earthenware pot does not pose a risk, only under-fired or  
ones with "bad" glazes. But I would appreciate input from those who  
know more about firing.

James Brothers
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On Aug 21, 2007, at 5:20, geoff carver wrote:

> some stuff on the history of lead here in an article on its  
> chemistry & why it's poisonous to kids (strangely a factor we seem  
> to have overlooked as a contributing factor in a somewhat  
> acrimonious discussion on the "decline & fall of the roman empire"  
> over the weekend):
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/science/21angi.html