Gloves or not?

muddocktor said:
After decades of loading without wearing any kind of protection on my hands from handling powder and lead bullets and cleaning and resizing cases and whatnot, a few years ago I started wearing nitrile gloves when handling any cleaning or loading operations. I got to thinking about the lead exposure specifically, not just from the bullets themselves but also from the primer residue on the cases. /QUOTE]

For decades this topic has been debated or at least since Al Gore invented the Internet:D

Here is thread sticky on it; There are also links within this thread

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/232095-blood-lead-levels.html

Bottom line is you DO NOT absorb lead through you skin (like touching bullets) You absorb it through ingestion, your eyes and lungs. Indoor ranges that allow lead ammo are the big sources,and it is mainly from the lead in primers,

You can rub your hands in lead or primers and it is not going into you skin unless you put your finer in you nose or mouth.

Sweeping the floor of an indoor range kicks of lead dust which you then breath or get all over you, so wash you hands , hair and clothes

Now cleaning solvents are a different mater, Some solvents are directly and rapidly absorbed into the skin, eyes and mouth.

I worked in an industry with very toxic chemicals and solvents and was responsible for the all the MSDS and Worker Safety.

Wear gloves if you wish, more so if using harsh solvents for cleaning. That said there are many household products in use under most kitchen sinks or in the garage that are just as bad or worse.
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When there was a re-examination of Franklin's lost expedition to the northwest passage, they found dangerous amounts of lead in the bodies recovered. At first it was assumed that the lead solder on the canned foods was to blame, but later on it was discovered that it was almost certainly the water distiller on the ship that lead to the lead contamination. Other British sailors and troops ate from the same style of canned foods without such problems of lead toxicity, and the distiller on the ship introduced lead into the water by the process it used, in a much more insidious and absorbable form. Sometimes it isn't the most obvious source of lead that can get you.

The lead in paint was eaten by children, absorbed directly into the body, and in a broken down form that the system picked up more easily than solid lead. The impure lead found in primer residue is the same, inhaled into the body, and in a less then pure, broken down form that is more easily absorbed by the body. Rubbing a pure lead foster slug in your hands all day is much safer than dealing with microscopic amounts of lead compounds.

The only curious case I remember about bullets leading to increased lead levels in dangerous amounts was a case study about a German women who lived in Sweden. She married a Swede, and traveled between both countries regularly, and often ate at restaurants that served wild game. She came down with severe malaise and chronic diarrhea, and was eventually diagnosed with lead poisoning. After years of sickness and treatment, she finally passed a piece of #4 buckshot that had been hiding in her system somewhere. She must have swallowed it somehow, and her system didn't get rid of it for years, and absorbed enough to give her a long term case of lead poisoning.

In any case, I'm more careful about cleaning my firearms with gloves than reloading. I never shoot indoors and don't tumble my brass, so I avoid the big dangers.
 
Wearing glove is not a bad idea and I did try, but I load for many hours at a time and could not take may hands sweating for so long. So no I don't. I do wear them when I clean my guns but that doesn't take all that long.

When I am finished or head upstairs for a meal I do wash my hands thoroughly and use Boraxo Powdered Hand Soap WITH D-Lead soap.
 
There may be a link between lead poisonings affect on a developing brain and having Alzheimer's later in life.My father had it.He also carried about a dozen 7 1/2s in his back most of his life.
 
STCM(SW) said:
Only wear gloves while molding bullets.
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Me too, so i dont burn the poop out of my hands.
I have ny lead level checked annually. I shoot outdoors every weekend, cast my own bullets, beem reloading for 40yrs now. My lead level has never been in double dig. Excersize, eat properly, dont smoke or eat while reloading or shooting, stay put of indoor ranges as much as possible. Then hope you have good genes.
 
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I would think that breathing the dust from tumbling media would be worse than handling lead because it's so fine and goes straight to the lungs.
 
Ahhh, the "lead panic". I've been working lead for the past 20 years as a machinist pouring and machining lead babbit sleeves. Never wore gloves on the basis of protecting my hands from direct lead exposure. Zero lead exposure medical issues. Now ask me how my knees and back are from walking thousands of miles on a solid concrete floor for the past 30 years ? I have issues. Don't lick your once fired brass , don't eat hard cast bullets as a snack, DO wash your hands after your reloading session, and after cleaning your firearms. You will survive...
 
I have never worn gloves for any reloading function from picking up brass through finished product. Never gave it a thought. I do wash my hands well though after handing all items. Sometimes twice. Bob
 
I work at a remote Lead and Zinc mine here in Alaska. We wear alot of pretective gear. The only time we see a high level is when welding. The smoke ( burnt lead on what we weld on) is really when you need to worry
If you melt down your lead. Have good ventalation . We have a standard no when we hired in. Mine was a 9
Reason why. Back in the day. Leaded gas, leaded paint made this
If you lived by a major hwy. you number would be higher.
Sweeping up will not affect you that much unless you do it all day long
Yeh. Wearing gloves sounds good to keep the tarnished cases down
 
IMO the lead issue is blown all out of proportion. Just use good cleanup procedures when done and good ventilation when casting. I sometimes use gloves when cleaning to keep all the solvents off my skin and always heavy welding gloves when casting and eye protection.
When loading I do not use gloves because of hands sweating and loss of dexterity. I have used nitrile gloves for protection against blood borne pathogens for years and for lots of other uses just never figured they were necessary.
Bottom line is do whatever you think necessary but for me I do not for loading.
 
I'm not much of a glove guy for anything I do. The range I go to has D-Lead soap in the rest rooms. I also use it at home after cleaning guns.
Next question is Does anyone wear a mask. I have occasionally seen people ware dust masks at the indoor range I frequent. It is a newly built range, 3-4 years old with very good ventilation.
Some are more cautious than others.
 
I am not a doctor, but I will repeat what my doctor told me a few years ago. I asked him about being tested for lead in my blood. I told him I shoot a lot and reload, thus handle a lot of lead. [This was prompted by threads like this one.]

He asked me, "What symptoms are you having?"

I said, "Symptoms? I don't have any."

He got kinda pissed [I guess he doesn't read firearms blogs] and said, "If you don't have any symptoms, you don't need testing."

I repeat, it's Plumbumphobia. First cousin of Hydragyrumphobia.
 
Safety is number 1, but be sure you are addressing the real threats to your health.
As my doctor told me when I was 60: "you're too old to have to worry about lead," so I didn't get a blood lead test.
No, never wore gloves. As of 2006, my blood lead level was STILL 6 (whatever units they use--maybe micrograms per deciliter or something like that).
You are infinitely more likely to die while driving, flying, or walking than to get lead poisoning. To be safe, wash your hands after reloading, avoid eating, drinking, smoking, rubbing your eyes, or picking your nose.
If you want to wear gloves, then be sure to wear a dust mask at all times, as you have more worries about dust than lead on your fingers.
 
No gloves for me while loading. I do wash my hands before and after each session.

I do most times wear gloves while smithing and cleaning.

I admit it, I'm ocd about rust. I'll wash my hands to handle a firearm much quicker than before eating.

In handguns I've been shooting the majority cast for the last 30 odd years. Most of my shooting is done outdoors. I figure what I breath is more harmful than what I handle, but I haven't lost any sleep over either.
 
Noylj. 6 is supper low
20 years of working here at this lead and zinc mine. The highest i got was 49. They put me on ( a blood draw once a month ) and asked me what have I been doing to get that high! We tore out a belt frame. Alot of cutting. Lead is easier to get into your blood in smoke form. Smoke in the Eyes easily makes it direct to the blood stream
Inhail second
 
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