Since early antiquity, the iron ore cerussite has yielded brilliant white and red pigments used in art and even medicine. In ancient history a mining site for cerussite is Anarak, Iran. Occurring in small quantities throughout the world, it's found with copper on Cyprus.
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Gorgeous but deadly, the product of cerussite is ceruse, also known as lead white, cerussa, lead-spar and white-lead-ore. Cerussite forms a fascinating complex of crystals. it's popular in paints until the 20th century.
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Lead is present in cerussite at about 77%. Extraction is by hydrolyzation or dissolution as lead is carried into the water. Historical uses of cerussa include application as an external medication, and as a pigment.
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Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c. 300 BCE) describes the creation of ceruse in his book The Lead and Zinc Pigments. In the section History of Stones he writes
"Lead is placed in earthen vessels over sharp vinegar, and after it has acquired some thickness of a sort of rust, which it commonly does in about ten days, they open the vessels and scrape it off, as it were, in a sort of foulness; they then place the lead over vinegar again, repeating over and over again the same method of scraping it till it has wholly dissolved.
What has been scraped off they then beat to powder and boil for a long time, and what at last subsides to the bottom of the vessel is ceruse."
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His writing greatly influences the practice of alchemy and even female beauty. Pale complexions appear through history. Famously, 16th century Elizabeth I of England uses ceruse as a face whitener. Lead poisoning is thought to contribute to her death at age 69.
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Roasting lead white creates the amazing red-orange pigment called minium in Latin. Minium is produced in China as early as 300 BCE. Under the Han Dynasty (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE) minium is known as cinnabar of lead.
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Romans call the new color red lead. Although red lead is almost insoluble in water and ethanol, it is soluble in the hydrochloric acid present in the stomach. This makes it toxic if ingested. Lead poisoning symptoms include body pain, seizures, vomiting and death.
In traditional Chinese medicine, red lead is used to treat ringworms and ulcerations. Azarcón, a Mexican folk remedy for gastrointestinal disorders, contains up to 95% lead oxide.
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The lead-producing mineral cerussite is used in crystal work or folk remedies to calm the nervous system. It's said to relieve anxiety, treat infertility problems and to ease stress during pregnancy and childbirth. Don't believe this. There is no safe level of lead.
Early Romans find the pigment comparable to their own vermillion, which they call minium. Their pigment is finely ground from the source ore cinnabar. In natural state vermilion is an opaque, orange-red pigment the Romans associate with life force and blood.
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Cinnabar contains mercury, a toxic metal. Many who extract the mercury ore pay a high price. Mercury poisoning presents symptoms of tremors, loss of muscle control, kidney damage, death. Barbarians are known to refuse Roman wine due to the sickness it causes.
By the 8th century CE vermillion can be artificially produced. The maker treats mercury salts with hydrogen sulfide. This creates a black synthetic "metacinnabar". Once heated in water it produces the pigment vermillion.
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The name minium is applied to vermillion, cinnabar and red lead pigments. Most often it's used to mean red lead, the color prized in illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
Minium comes from medieval Latin. Originally a "miniature" refers to a work created with minium paint pigment. Miniature meaning 'small' comes from the size of manuscript paintings, which have to be small to fit into the page.
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According to Italian painter Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1360 - 1427 CE), "A color known as red lead is red, and it is manufactured by alchemy." Alchemy is trending in the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Another vibrant new color is Prussian blue.
Red lead is used as a cheaper substitute for vermillion, or might be mixed in to extend the pigment. Vermillion is the favorite red hue for artists up to the 20th century, when cadmium red hits the market. It's also highly toxic.
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Bernardinus Ramazzini, 18th century doctor from Italy, is the first to suggest illness affecting artists and workers may be lead or pigment poisoning. In his De Morbis Artificum Diatriba he writes,
“Of the many painters I have known, almost all I found unhealthy … If we search for the cause of the cachectic and colorless appearance of the painters, as well as the melancholy feelings that they are so often victims of, we should look no further than the harmful nature of the pigments…”
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Thousands of paint and dye colors are on the market today. Toxic constituents of pigments, such as lead and mercury, have been replaced with safe elements. In most countries, products containing lead and other hazardous components are banned.
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