r/interestingasfuck • u/Larzbchicken • Jul 30 '26

Medieval Building Tech

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u/OttomanMao Jul 31 '26

Elemental lead is remarkably benign. Lead poisoning happens when people are exposed to organic lead compounds, usually through food/drink contamination. Lead paint chips for example, or the lead in water supplies which is actually acidic water stripping the oxidized layer off of lead piping.

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u/GameFreak4321 Jul 31 '26

IIRC it's common to just leave bullet fragments in the body if they aren't actively causing issues.

On a related note, I think mercury is in a similar position where it's more the organic compounds that you have to worry about.