I've spent countless hours at indoor ranges. Picked up hundreds of thousands of fired brass. Reloaded for decades using no gloves. Been cleaning suppressors with the DIP.... on and on...

About a year or so ago my wife read something about lead exposure and the article mentioned shooting. So..... she's been on my case since. Got it checked and its way on the low side for an adult and even good for a child so says the doc.

So I'm wondering about all this fretting over lead exposure and shooting. If I'm ok, what do you have to do.... snort powdered lead through a rolled up $20 bill to get too much lead in your blood?

I know a gunsmith that had to take 6 months off due to lead exposure. You have to take apart 100's of 1911's and work around primer dust with solvents for 5+ years with out gloves. Ingesting lead works as well as heating it to the point of vaporizing, or double what you should cast at. Do it not every week but for hours every day.
When is the last time you saw a kid eat paint anyway? See the thread above about the A10, it isn't for public safety rather it is for public funds transferring to private hands.

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Front sight and squeeze

Annie Oakley died of lead poisoning.

Done my share of reloading since mid 70s (shotgun rifle/pistol), cleaned out the backstop area of our clubs indoor pistol range many times( no jacketed ammo was allowed) and also worked as a pipefitter.

That fitter work consisted of lots of lead work in the early part of my carrier, pouring joints, soldering lead and installing shower pans and x-ray protection. Of course I also shot much in the indoor range. Shooting in our indoor range back then was under conditions that would make OSHA and EPA get a serious case of the vapors.

A few years back I talked with my doctor and asked about a lead test as I have a few medical problems. Test was done and while I do not remember the numbers, the doc said my numbers were good, just a slightly elevated above what they consider normal.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

However true or not Wikipedia says not. "Her health declined in 1925 and she died of pernicious anemia in Greenville, Ohio, at the age of 66 on November 3, 1926"
I'm sure a lot of the Western gunfighters died of "Lead Poisoning" but in a different fashion.
e.

When I worked as a Chemical Tank Liner We had a couple of Guys that did the Lead Liners, They used a Torch and basically welded Lead Plate together along with just making different size Lead Plates. Every Year They had to go to the Hospital and have a Calcium I.V run through Their Veins to remove the Lead from Their Systems.I guess the Calcium attached the Lead and help to flush it out.

I've loaded and shot more shells than most people have ever seen plus worked 40 yrs. around lead sheath cables and I don't have any lead poison problems. I don't ever remember hearing of a telephone lineman or splicer dying of lead poison. Lead poisoning is an urban myth to place another obstacle in the path of gun ownership and the shooting sports. Larry

It's the lead you can't see that's the threat,either as a vapor or in a solution that can be absorbed through the skin.

Use teeth to pull the bullet from the case?

I've been reloading since the late 60s. Shot a lot of cast bullets over thirty five or so years.

Been loading shotshells for several years now (and when you dump the shot into the shot holder on the press, there is a small cloud I always seem to breathe in).

Shot for years and years at an indoor police pistol range where there was a lot of lead residue around.

And, after reading some threads on the internet, I got a bit concerned.

So, on my next visit to the VA, I talked to the doctor (a duck hunter from Louisiana) and asked about a blood test to see if I'd done some damage to myself.

After snickering over the medical info available on the internet, he set up the test.

I don't recall the numbers, but they were normal.

Bob

My lead has been as high as 48 with no obvious physical symptoms. My coworkers were in the 70s and 80s with no symptoms either, at least until they received their numbers and suddenly had all kinds of ailments. We worked at a nasty range with poor ventilation. They took it more seriously than I did and after speaking with doctors that didn't know what to do, or said they was nothing they could do except stay away from lead and it'll in time get out of you system, they decided the worry was / is blown way out of proportion.

After a while my levels got to normal (below 10).

The elimination of lead in gasoline probably did more to eliminate lead poisoning than anything else. Think of the crops grown within 50 feet of major thoroughfares all those years. Years ago I observed families gathering dandelion greens for consumpsion on highway cloverleafs. The ground and plants were probably saturated with lead. Is inhalation versus ingestion more dangerous?

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SOS USA

Originally Posted by ChattanoogaPhil View Post
>>If I'm ok, what do you have to do.... snort powdered lead through a rolled up $20 bill to get too much lead in your blood?<<

Bite on a bullet while the dentist/barber digs the other one out of your shoulder?

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

I've wondered about this too that's why I always wash up after a day at the range. I would imagine casting lead bullets and slugs wouldn't be good for your health.

When I worked at the PD and was a firearms instructor who was also responsible for range maintenance my lead level was 30. Several years later I was working at a foundry that recycled lead and copper. My lead level never got any higher than 35 but there were guys that would reach 100 by not following simple safety rules. If your level reached 100 they pulled you out of the smelter section. We had several guys develope brain cancer but I don't know if this was related to long term lead exposure or not.

Remember the dark strip down the center of the macadam? Can only imagine what must have leached off of the roads when it rained.

That's what the DIP does (hydrogen peroxide and vinegar). I use it to clean my rimfire suppresses. Fill mason jar 50/50 and drop the baffles in it for few hours. Man it works good! It makes lead acetate that's supposed to be bad for ya.

lead paint dust is a serious hazard for infants, small children, babies & in the womb. They need to be protected from it..... period. On older folks like us, you'd have to have a serious occupational exposure for some time, before it became a problem. We had 2 iron workers in their mid 60's doing pre-rip out work at a major car manufacturing plant...... they either cut out structural gussets, or members, or welded on to existing structural pieces.

They had gotten to old to tie re-bar, and no longer connected on the red iron. but were both certified welders.......... they'd sit crouched over their work & the lead paint fumes were directed up under their welding hoods to their mouths & noses for 8-10 hours a day ... for weeks & weeks. One night one of them collapsed on the ground/(concrete floor) , by the time the company medics& ambulance got there the 2nd guy was woozie too. Thankfully the company paramedics loaded both up in ambulances and another Local 10 Ironworker KC, Mo. accompanied each ironworker to North Kansas City Hospital's ER.

Where they got very lucky was one of the ER doc's had just completed a refresher for his yearly retraining and he had chosen Occupational Medicine. He asked what the 2 men did for a living & then went out to talk to the ironworkers out front. they told him of the hard cutting & burning on structural iron...... the two men got even luckier that NKC Hospitsal had someone in the lab that night that knew how to process Blood lead level tests.. one man had fatal levels & the other was near fatal levels............He immediately started chelation treatment for both men....... and made sure that BLL's (blood Lead Levels) were taken on anyone cutting on, or welding on any structural member/piece....

After that, the car manufacturing plant had us go in & remove the lead paint from each piece that needed to be welded on, or cut on............ We'd go in on Friday evenings aftr they shut off the lines, and their crew had left.... we'd then set up an area and we had 2 of their foremen & 2 of ours to go mark each piece....they each had plans to show what had to be done.......... We'd work nearly straight thru until early Sunday eve, but by 6:00pm I want to say, every piece of our equipment had to be gone from the plant & we had to have all trucks away from the loading docks.

My certification is long since lapsed but I was a Class II Missouri & Kansas Contractor/Supervisor on both Lead & asbestos.. On this I know of where I speak.......

Try to cast your bullets/sinkers etc. outside...... with a good fan blowing on you from the back forward..........I prefer to wear a decent old cotton long sleeved shirt, buttoned at the wrists. I do not wear gloves when I cast, nor do I require my now 15 yr old grandson who helps cast & size to wear gloves either. Both of us wear construction OSHA grade safety glasses.. and I have the bathroom sink in the basement mud room set up with Dawn dish soap cut 1-4 & I have an old green scrub pad handy, and it is mandatory that your hands & face are washed thouroughly before drinking or eating (on him).......... (or to smoke for me, I used to until my cancer returned in 2013).

Do not let small children or pregnant moms around areas where you cast. It helps that Nick takes great pride in his appearance & he washes up without being told.

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

If indoors firearms practice and maintenance were a daily activity, it would be a concern. Most indoor ranges have high capacity ventilation fans to deal with the risk. Regardless, always wear thin protective gloves when cleaning guns that have a lead buildup from use. I was advised to wash clothing worn at firing ranges separately. While I never went that far in my precautions, I would recommend that an annual physical checkup include a blood workup that will screen for lead. Lead tends to deposit in bones, where it can cause cancer. In the 15 years that being a Firearms Instructor was one of my duties, I never received a notification of high lead levels in any of my annual blood workups.

I've cast many, many thousands of lead bullets in the last 60 years. I have always made proper venting and sanitation an essential. I cast under an old kitchen vent that I bought at a flea market. My last lead test was normal.

good personal hygene, washing your hands , face and arms is thoroughly is a must after casting before you eat, drink or smoke. Keeping your casting done in a well ventilated area, with a fan blowing on you from behind towards the lead pot is a great help too............When I was first licensed in Missouri to abate/ lead, they did a base line BLL blood lead level, mine was at 4, I was casting a huge amount of handgun bullets for our use & our friends use. I'd never worn a respirator while casting either before I got licensed, and still don't for that matter....... but I make sure our family members & friends who cast here follow my rules above, on hygene & ventilation.

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

Nope. Had mine tested and my lead/mercury levels were very high. My mercury level came from too much tuna, and the lead was from reloading shot and trap shooting for many years. I went through the detox process and was back to normal in about 4 months. An East Indian doctor spotted the symptoms and had me tested.

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That's just somebody talkin.

You can be around mercury and if you don't breathe vapors, ingest it with careless handling or have a lot of skin contact, you can go for years and not be phased one bit. It seems that when it gets to be a problem, though, it's REALLY a problem. If the area has half decent ventilation, the brass has low mercuric compounds on it and the dust isn't stirred up too much, there's not much problem. A scientific study was done in the hatter's trade (really) and found about the same thing. Some people were very adversely affected while some we hardly affected at all.

The indoor range I go to is very cheap, but I think the ventilation consists of a guy standing by the door waving a newspaper in the air.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Before we assume never , semi-famous gunwriter , and San Antonio PD Rangemaster Tom Ferguson died from complications of lead posioning.

I have had to have the chelation IV therapy done twice. It's been about 30 years since the last one. I really need to have my lead level checked again, but I'm no longer exposed to the lead dust, etc., as I used to be. I do shoot at an indoor range quite frequently, so maybe it's time for the lead check again.

When I do cast bullets, I do it outside so I have plenty of fresh air around me. Haven't cast in a couple of years though as I have plenty of bullets on hand. I also reload my own shotshells.

Plumbumphobia.

I let the hype get to me a few years ago. I told my doctor I am a shooter, and have lots of exposure to lead. I asked him if I should be tested.

He asked, "Do you have any symptoms?"

I said, "No."

He said, "You don't need to be tested."

My long experienced, internal medicine doctor said that if you don't have symptoms, there is no reason to worry about it.

Technically, he's probably correct. By the time symptoms start to bother you, it's too late to worry about it.

Absolutely. Anyone with any sense at all knows it's another of those Vast Government Conspiracies. We've been lied to for decades.

Hey, did you know that whole Apollo 11 moon landing thing back in '69 was just a hoax? The whole thing was filmed out in the deserts of New Mexico, not far from Roswell.

The Truth Is Out There.

Phil,

I did the same thing. I got scared by the hoopla, had my lead levels measured (not once, but twice to confirm it) and I have abnormally low lead levels also.

I think it is simple. Don't eat after you shoot, keep your hands out of your mouth till you wash them and practice a lot of hygiene like washing up a bunch and showering after shooting.

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SWCA 1646

We used lead in the car factory. The dust from lead being ground smooth was the biggest problem. Each persons body treats lead differently. As of about 1985 when I worked in the Safety Dept. we had no lead poisoning cases. We had some high lead but these employees were moved out of the area until their levels came down. The highest blood level we had recorde at that time was from a employee who didn't even work the lead area. He touched clothes pins that held a sheet on the front of the body. The bodies went through the lead are and on to paint. The clothes pins were reused and not washed. That pratice changed quickly. The employee licked his finger each time he picked up an sheet to be pinned on the body. Also ate his lunch on the job while working. He was given some time away from that area and shown how to wash his hands properly. His blood count fell quickly. Be clean and you will be fine.

Very interesting thread and I've been following it as I've reloaded for years and never wore gloves until recent years and shot a lot too. I may have come into contact with it in my job too at times.
I had thought getting tested may have been a good idea but never did. I feel a little better now reading the stories of some of you that did.

brian, getting your blood tested is not a bad idea, and I'd still recommend everyone who casts bullets/lures/weights to get it done, it can't hurt to establish a base line for blood lead levels........... if you reload with lead bullets/shot , make sure you wash your hands and your face thoroughly after each reloading session, before eating , drinking, smoking........

I've never advocated using a fan during reloading sessions because of their ability to seriously screw up powder weights, so do NOT use one while reloading...............

But please do use one after each casting session, no matter how brief.........

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

I had a lead screen done about a month ago, and it came back in at "the high end of normal." I'm going into the doctor tomorrow, and going to request the full report.

In my case, I actually requested the test(actually a full heavy metal screen-I'm a chemist so come into contact with a lot of metal salts) as I though I was having some symptoms that could point to some sort of heavy metal poisoning.

I decided to take some time off from reloading and shooting, which wasn't a big deal anyway as I really haven't had time lately.

I do know that one of the indoor ranges I frequent gets very "smoky" when I shoot cast lead, and I was also unable to feel any air moving. On one occasion, I went out and asked them about it, and the found that-for whatever reason-one of the ventilation fans wasn't on. I suspect that this sort of thing may be my biggest source of exposure.

I do my reloading by stages, and I do powder charging in my easy chair. It's nice in the A/C but sometimes even the breeze out of the vents goofs up loads so I have to watch it.

Tumbling and tumbling media are a biggy and dust and handling can sure be a bad source of contaminants.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Mercury is another one to be careful with. I used to eat tuna almost everyday for a number of years. I asked one doc and he said a person could not get mercury poison from tuna. Well, I did because that was the only place it could have come from. I had severe pain in the area of my liver and it showed up in a blood test.

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That's just somebody talkin.

A few of you have reported symptoms of high levels of lead in your body, but haven't told us what the symptoms were. I, and I'm sure others, would find that information helpful.

Andy

A lot of that smoke associated with shooting cast lead is the lube used. I think the new coatings are far superior. There area lot of different recipes for 'lub in groove' and I wouldn't doubt that some of it is toxic when burned.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Sorry, ask any physician: that is absolutely untrue. There is abundant history of people, often children, being terribly affected or fatally poisoned by lead exposure.

Why do you suppose lead-based paint was banned years ago? And why was the use of lead water pipes discontinued even longer ago?

For many years some serious historians have theorized that part of the reason for the decline of the Roman empire was the Romans' use of lead plumbing (the term comes from plumbum, the Latin word for lead).

Not everything is a plot to deny our Second Amendment rights.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I'm mystified by the folks who claim their blood lead levels "were on the low normal" or "on the high side of normal" etc.. When a competent lab does your BLL, it will give you the number that your blood lead level is...... when I was first tested as a baseline when I was first certified mine was 4, I was casting a huge amount of primarily lead handgun bullets for all of our family & friends, and not washing every time as I should have been.

Running a crew of 10 guys using 4 1/2" angle grinders and pneumatic needle scalers who were removing lead paint from high steel structural iron in a containment at times the air would shimmy/glisten around the guys if more than several were working in the same area. Wearing both foam plugs & the best muffs at the same time was mandatory for hearing protection.

But there were a few times every shift I'd have to remove my respirator & yell at someone to redo an area......at the 2nd month test, my BLL was 16, so I quit doing that.

For the guys saying that they had no symptoms........... tell me what you think the symptoms of elevated levels of BLL are.............

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

Like I said before "googling your symptoms is a sure way to convince yourself that you are dying"

I think it all comes down to proper hygiene. I go to a indoor range at least once a week and after each session I go to the restroom & wash my hands before leaving. In addition, when I'm home cleaning my pistols, I keep no food or drinks nearby and I wash my hands a couple times during the process....and wash my hands again before touching any food or drink....

shouldazagged mentioned the Romans demise, and their wine was made and served in lead vessels.

Lead has been used in some pottery glazing. If food is cooked in it, or especially if salsa or citric acid drinks are served regularly or stored, the lead enters the food and will poison you. Happens in Mexico fairly often, according to my doc down there.

Cases reported in the southwestern U.S. due to the same thing, keeping fresh squeezed orange juice in a pretty, glazed pottery decanter and using it for long periods.

Pottery and plates from China have been shown to have high levels of lead in their glazing, too.

Those habanero peppers will eat into and dissolve anything....

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Halfway and one more step

There were several studies in the 60s and 70s linking high levels of lead to a climbing violent crime rate.Part of the reason we no longer use leaded gas.

I will solve this mystery for you.

People forget the actual number, but remember what it means.
For example 4 is Low Low is good. Low is remembered because it's good.

I don't remember my Cholesterol levels, I just remember if he said high or low.

It really wasn't that big of a deal. When I got a routine blood test I asked that they check for lead too. Have you ever looked at those blood test results? I think they're called CBC or whatever... there's pages of numbers on all sorts of stuff. I don't care about the numbers because they are totally meaningless to me unless the doc says something. Do you memorize all that stuff? Not me... I'm in my mid 50s and my hard drive is about full.

Mine was 2.6 and 2.8 on the different tests. Round to 3 and it is on the low side of normal which is between 4 and 8.

Like was pointed out above. Just remember the low side of normal and move on.

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SWCA 1646

I believe it's in your genes whether or not any particular substance "gets you". I'm either very lucky of most of the EPA nanny warnings are BS. I grew up with lead in EVERYTHING, our toys were painted with lead, we made lead soldiers with a home casting kit. Everything was painted with lead paint. All our pipes were wrapped in asbestos, our house had asbestos shingles on it that we would break off chunks and use as chalk in the street. We smoked, as soldered crystal radios and never took any precautions. Everybody smoked and we sprayed DDT all over the place. I washed every car part I ever touched in leaded gas.
We all did and most of us that I know are still here and those who aren't are not here because of any lead related health issues.

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Back to back World War Champs.

Lead had been removed from paint in the US since 1978, hard to imagine there is much left out there. Strange how other countries don't have people dropping like flies.

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Front sight and squeeze

Mercury = nervousness, irritability, insomnia, twitching/tremors, weakness and decreased cognitive function.

I have all of those symptoms.

Lead = high blood pressure, abdominal pain, constipation, joint muscle pain, cognitive/memory loss, pain/numbness/tingling in extremities.

If you show these sign you are already in bad shape.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Nothing but old age. Keep somebody in a bubble until they are old and they will still have all those problems. Larry