Targaryens and Lead Poisoning - A Roman Parallel

[StarkofWinterfell]

It seems like a lot of people in this thread like the idea of Aerys being deliberately poisoned by the maesters, and the maesters being behind the stillbirths of his wife. But what if it was your standard ol' case of lead poisoning that drove Aerys into madness and caused his wife to have so many stillbirths? Aerys was after all a generally ok guy for the first dozen years or so of his reign - his descent was gradual.

In reference to the stillbirths of his children, lead poisoning has been linked to such a thing. When Washington D.C. had high levels of lead in its drinking water, stillbirth rates went up 32-63 percent. Stillbirth rates tied to lead in drinking water

Whichever theory you end up believing is up to you. A maester conspiracy is certainly grandiose but lead poisoning is a much simpler explanation for these events.