Sort:  

I guess the 16 average age was due to so many babies dying. I remember hearing that the average lifespan of people who survived past 5 was mid thirties

It's virtually impossible to find accurate statistics from back then or to acertain what people died of, all we can do is, like detectives, work on what we do know and use common sense reasoning. Don't forget apart from the pollution and over-crowding there was also the orthodox quacks handing out poisons as medicines and even mandatory vaccine campaigns going on.