Lead (Pb), a soft, silvery white or grayish metal in Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table. Lead is very malleable, ductile, and dense and is a poor conductor of electricity. Known in antiquity and believed by the alchemists to be the oldest of metals, lead is highly durable and resistant to corrosion, as is indicated by the continuing use of lead water pipes installed by the ancient Romans. The symbol Pb for lead is an abbreviation of the Latin word for lead, plumbum. Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica
Lead has been mined for more than 6,000 years, and the metal and its compounds have been used throughout history. Small lead nuggets have been found in pre-Columbian Peru, Yucatan, and Guatemala.
The Romans employed lead on a large scale, mining it mainly in Spain and Britain, and using it also for water pipes, coffins, pewter tableware, and to debase their silver coinage. While its mining declined in the Dark Ages it reappeared in Medieval times and found new uses, such as pottery glazes, bullets, and printing type. In the last century it was a fuel additive. Continue reading from Royal Society of Chemistry
Lead is an incredibly useful metal, but it is also toxic to humans. In fact, if we didn't have to worry about breathing in its dust or ingesting its particles, lead would be in widespread use due to its highly industry-friendly properties, such as excellent malleability and corrosion resistance.
Throughout history — before the scientific advancements of the 20th century revealed its potent toxicity — lead was widely used in a variety of products, including cosmetics, paint, solder, pipes and gasoline. Certain properties of lead, namely its ductility and resistance to corrosion and tiny leaks, make it a particularly good material for constructing water pipes. Even the ancient Romans made their water pipes out of lead, causing some to believe that lead poisoning, at least partially, led to the fall of the Roman Empire. Continue reading from LiveScience
