An interesting hypothesis regarding the social problems in the Roman Empire is that the widespread use of lead for pipes, storage, cooking and utensils caused lead poisoning.
Interestingly enough, contemporary Romans and Greeks warned that the use of lead was unhealthy, though it should be noted that lead pipes for water were likely not a source of dangerous poisoning. Calcium carbonate in the water itself coated the pipes and, along with regular water flow, kept lead contamination down.
And it is certainly safe to say that lead alone did not cause the fall of the Western Empire.
But there is a growing body of evidence which suggests that Romans, especially upper class ones, accumulated toxic levels of lead over time--especially from cooking with lead and using it to store wine. Furthermore, it is known that lead poisoning can cause neurological damage, aberrant behavior and infertility, problems which plagued Rome across a wide period of time:
In a 2019 study, archaeologists examined several skeletons from London during the Roman era for signs of exposure to toxic levels of lead. The team sampled 30 thigh bones, as well as 70 bones from the Iron Age as a control. They found that the Iron Age skeletons contained just 0.3 to 2.9 micrograms of lead per gram, whereas the ones from the Roman empire had between 8 to 123 micrograms per gram. Those are sufficiently high levels to cause widespread health effects, including hypertension, fertility issues (and subsequent population decline), kidney disease, neural damage, gout, and so forth.
While not conclusive, it does strongly suggest that lead was a culprit in Rome's many social problems.
This has been speculated on for some time. Of course, when combined with a general moral decay and the mixing of foreign mercenaries in the legions, the fall of Rome was on the fast track to a breakup.
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