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[Zargen]

*digging through the embark screen*

lead flasks                  20P


Wait, what? 

[Sowelu]

That's so totally not a bug.  Lead was historically used for all sorts of drinking water related purposes.  It's a metal like any other.

[Zargen]

Lead is also incredibly toxic, especially when it comes into contact with water, -especially- when someone actually drinks the water.

[Grek]

None the less, it was historically used for making goblets, pumbing and even as a food additive. It's a terrible idea, but that hasn't stopped anyone.

[Sowelu]

Dwarves also build furniture out of ores of uranium and mercury.  This is intended behavior for now.  I think that negative effects are planned for...sometime in the future.

Rome lined its aqueducts with lead.

[Rakoth]

Dwarves clearly enjoy a little toxicity.  Their hardy diet of liquor-soaked food and liquor-soaked liquor allows them to process lead whereas it would kill most humans.

That or maybe someday we'll be allowed to trade lead flasks to the elves.... with sexy results.

[kiffer.geo]

None the less, it was historically used for making goblets, pumbing and even as a food additive. It's a terrible idea, but that hasn't stopped anyone.

Fun fact! the word plumbing comes from the latin plumbum... which is latin for lead... this is also why lead is Pb on periodic table.
One day Dwarf Fortress will have lead poisoning ... till then drink deep.

[kaypy]

And moreover, in ancient times lead compounds were actually used as a sweetener, so yeah, the lead really could be what gives it flavor!

[freeze]

Lead is perfect for bins, barrels, buckets, and now, flasks. Also, drinking water from lead pipes isn't what killed off the Romans. Their number system doesn't have zero, so they couldn't indicate successful termination of their C programs!

[Aquillion]

Lead is also incredibly toxic, especially when it comes into contact with water, -especially- when someone actually drinks the water.

Yes, but in the time period DF is based on, they didn't know that and, as others have said, used lead to produce pipes and tankards and such.  Why do you think lead in the drinking water is such a major concern?  It used to be very widespread due to people not knowing the danger.

One theory even says that it contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire, although I think most scholars dismiss that nowadays (after all, everyone else was using it too, so it's not like the Romans were at a special disadvantage.  It only looks horrifying and strange to our modern eyes -- to them, they just had a high number of birth defects, developmental problems, etc, and didn't know why.  Lead was hardly the only contributing factor to this in a world that didn't even understand the basics of infection and disease.)

[Max White]

Chemical symbol for lead? Spell plumbing? Coincidence? I think not!

[rkyeun]

I don't think lead poisoning will be a serious issue until the leading cause of dwarf death stops being

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ustxu Iceraped the Frigid Crystal of Slaughter was a glacier titan. It was the only one of its kind. A gigantic feathered carp composed of crystal glass. It has five mouths full of treacherous teeth, enormous clear wings, and ferocious blue eyes. Beware its icy breath! Ustxu was associated with oceans, glaciers, boats, and murder.

and related things.

[Jehdin]

My elven adventurer (it's ok, I kill other elves.) melted... I had 2 elven adventurers melt, actually. And a retreat full of elves melted too.

[Fox the Undead]

I'm currently testing lead with added necrosis syndrome.

[Lord_Phoenix]

Chemical symbol for lead? Spell plumbing? Coincidence? I think not!

Yes, the chemical symbol for lead (Pb) comes from the latin word plumbum, meaning, of course, lead.  Lead was practically synonymous with any plumbing up until just a very short while ago.  Some places still have lead plumbing.  It's actually pretty safe, but problems arise with older pipes and prolonged periods of exposure on the order of decades.  The Romans were probably killing themselves much faster with all the lead cooked into their food and cosmetics and crap.

It's much the same way with Mercury.  Large amounts of mercury, like you'd find in a thermometer, are pretty safe to eat, unless you have ulcers, though not recommended in any fashion.  It will usually just pass straight through your system as it's not easily absorbed, unless there are tears or parasites or other direct routes to the blood stream that bypass the natural barriers in place.  Mercury is really dangerous if it's suspended in a solution or other material in large quantities, such as a fish, in a form which can be easily absorbed by the intestinal tract.

Why do you think every pipe that acts as a weapon in any video game is a lead pipe and not a copper pipe?  It's not like they've been mass producing lead pipes for use as weaponry.