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What dangerous substances were unknowingly used by people in the past millennium?
(Like radium, lead, asbestos, etc. seems for us now)
"Dude, it was wood. Stay the fuck away from wood!"
But it's pretty. :(
Plastics
"Unknowingly"
Most plastic that we use shows evidence of endocrine disruption activity and it isnt just BPA as a byproduct of the manufacture of certain plastics. We know it is bad for the environment too. Microplastics are pervasive and also known to have negative health and environmental consequences.
I agree with all of that, but as a society, I would not say we "know" it until we remove it from our food supply in a significant way. Today, still in most countries much of our food is stored, sold, and prepared in substantial plastics. We rightfully "know" better with lead and asbestos, but societally were still ignorant of the real concerns of plastics.
We knew Lead was poisonous back in roman times. That didnt stop us from using its derivatives in paint, gasoline, solders (still used today), bullets and other common products. The disaster in Flint for example, was the result of the use of Lead and its alloys in the water pipes used there combined with poor decisions made in the name of cost cutting. Dont assume that people individually or as a society do dumb things only because they dont know any better. People do dumb things they know full well they shouldnt be doing all the time.