Sweetener Like other lead(II) salts, lead(II) acetate has a sweet taste, which led to its historical use as a
sugar substitute in both wines and foods. The
ancient Romans, who had few sweeteners besides
honey, would boil
must (unfiltered grape juice) in lead pots to produce a reduced sugar syrup called
defrutum, concentrated again into
sapa. This syrup was used to sweeten wine and to sweeten and preserve fruit. It is possible that lead(II) acetate or other lead compounds
leaching into the syrup might have caused
lead poisoning in those who consumed it. Lead acetate is no longer used in the production of sweeteners because of its recognized toxicity. Legislation prohibiting its use as a wine sweetener circa 1750 proved ineffective until decades later, when chemical methods of detecting its presence had been developed. The earliest documented fatal poisoning of an individual by lead acetate was that of
Pope Clement II, who died in October 1047. A toxicological examination of his remains conducted in the mid-20th century confirmed centuries-old rumors that he had been poisoned with sugar of lead. It is not clear whether he was assassinated. In 1787 painter and biographer
Albert Christoph Dies swallowed, by accident, approximately of lead acetate. His recovery from this poison was slow and incomplete. He lived with illnesses until his death in 1822. Although the use of lead(II) acetate as a sweetener was already illegal at that time, composer
Ludwig van Beethoven may have died of lead poisoning caused by wines adulterated with lead acetate (see also
Beethoven's liver). In 1887, 38 hunting horses belonging to Captain William Hollwey Steeds were poisoned in their stables at Clonsilla House, Dublin, Ireland. At least ten of the horses died. Captain Steeds, an "extensive commission agent", had previously supplied the horses for the Bray and Greystones Coach. It transpired that they had been fed a bran mash that had been sweetened with a toxic lead acetate.
Cosmetics Lead(II) acetate and
white lead have been used in cosmetics throughout history. It was once used for men's
hair colouring products like
Grecian Formula. The manufacturer did not remove lead acetate from its product until 2018. Lead acetate has been replaced by bismuth citrate as the progressive colorant. Its use in cosmetics has been banned in Canada by
Health Canada since 2005 (effective at the end of 2006) based on tests showing possible carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity, and it is also banned in the
European Union. In modern medicine, for a time, it was used as an
astringent, in the form of
Goulard's extract, and it has also been used to treat
poison ivy. During the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, on May 10, 1805, Captain
Meriwether Lewis wrote that he used "sugar of lead" mixed with
white vitriol and water as a treatment for sore eyes. In the 1850s,
Mary Seacole applied lead(II) acetate, among other remedies, against an epidemic of
cholera in Panama.
Other historic uses Lead acetate was used in making of
slow match during the
Middle Ages. It was made by mixing
vinegar with
litharge, a natural form of lead(II) oxide. It was also used in
chemical coloring of metals. Sugar of lead was a recommended agent added to linseed oil during heating to produce "boiled"
linseed oil, the lead and heat acting to cause the oil to cure faster than raw linseed oil. Lead(II) acetate ("salt of Saturn") was used to synthesise
acetone which was then known as "spirit of Saturn" for being made with the salt of Saturn and thought to be a lead compound in the 17th century. ==See also==