Cleopatra
Eye make-up as worn by ancient Egyptians such as Cleopatra may have had medical as well as cosmetic uses, French researcher have concluded.
The study, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, found it helped to protect against eye disease due to the lead salts contained in the make-up.
At very low levels, salts produce nitric oxide, which is known to boost the immune system helping fight off bacteria which can cause eye infections despite the danger to health posed by the lead content
But an analysis by scientists from the Louvre Museum and the CNRS research institute found that in very low doses lead could actually have a positive effect.
Lead researcher Philippe Walter said: "We knew ancients Greeks and Romans too had noted the make-up had medicinal properties, but wanted to determine exactly how."
The researchers used a tiny electrode, 1/10th the thickness of a human hair, to look at the effect of lead chloride salt synthesised by the Egyptians - laurionite - on a single cell.
Writing in the journal, they said: "In stimulating nonspecific immunological defences, one may argue that these lead compounds were deliberately manufactured and used in ancient Egyptian formulations to prevent and treat eye illnesses by promoting the action of immune cells."
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