Overview

• Researchers analyzed 51 fossil teeth dated to roughly 100,000–1.8 million years and found childhood “lead bands” in 73 percent of specimens using high-precision laser-ablation geochemistry.
• Signals of intermittent exposure were detected across multiple hominids, including Australopithecus, Paranthropus, early Homo, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens, pointing to a long-standing environmental presence of lead.
• In brain organoids, the archaic NOVA1 variant showed stronger lead-related effects, including disrupted FOXP2 activity and impacts on cortical and thalamic neurons, compared with the modern human variant.
• The authors hypothesize that the modern NOVA1 variant may have provided partial protection influencing language-related pathways and survival, a proposition that remains tentative and requires replication and in vivo evidence.
• The study highlights continuity with a current public-health threat, noting IHME estimates that lead contributed to more than 1.5 million global deaths in 2021.