Can you think of a more unpleasant science task than to collect and analyze the buildup of scum on someone's else's bathtub? That's a job for grad students, but what they found gives us a good look at life in ancient Pompeii. In the city's public baths, researchers found traces of lead and other dangerous metals, and a good amount of human skin cells and bodily fluids.
But that doesn't tell the whole story. Pompeii was only under Roman rule for about 160 years before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius buried the town. Before that, the public baths of the Samnite people were fed from contaminated wells. The Romans installed aqueducts that brought fresh water from distant springs. However, the fact that so much buildup was left behind makes one wonder if they ever cleaned the pools, and how often they changed the water. If you picture how these baths looked when they were being used by many people, it's no wonder that some ancient folk got the idea that bathing was bad for you. Read about the research into the baths of Pompeii at Science Focus. -via Strange Company
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