High Lead Levels

We decided to check the water supply just to make sure. Lowe's and Home Depot give kits and check for free. Have to review what I'm doing and make changes shooting & reloading. Always washed my hands after both. The clubs range was rebuilt along with ventilation system. Will see if others at the club will get a blood test to see if the ventilation system isn't working.

We take vitamin C&D every day with fish oil. Gonna eat more foods known for lowering lead levels. Thanks for all the good advice in this thread.

Hopefully as everyone reads this post it will make us all safer as we enjoy our sport. Will report back when they draw blood at the end of December to see how much improvement there is.

I never believed I had a high lead level. GET A BLOOD TEST to see where your level is. I'm glad the doctor and I thought, what the heck, let's check it. Larry
 
Jebus35745 said:
We decided to check the water supply just to make sure. Lowe's and Home Depot give kits and check for free. Have to review what I'm doing and make changes shooting & reloading. Always washed my hands after both. The clubs range was rebuilt along with ventilation system. Will see if others at the club will get a blood test to see if the ventilation system isn't working.

We take vitamin C&D every day with fish oil. Gonna eat more foods known for lowering lead levels. Thanks for all the good advice in this thread.

Hopefully as everyone reads this post it will make us all safer as we enjoy our sport. Will report back when they draw blood at the end of December to see how much improvement there is.

I never believed I had a high lead level. GET A BLOOD TEST to see where your level is. I'm glad the doctor and I thought, what the heck, let's check it. Larry
Click to expand...

You can get high dose vitamin C in a supplement called 'EmergenC'. It has 1,000 mg. of Vitamin C, which is the upper limit daily dose. I take one a day, along with a multi-vitamin and OJ.
 
My lead levels rose when I started using indoor ranges. It got near 30 about two years ago. I started taking 1000 mg of vitamin C and the led level has decreased significantly. I don't recall last year's test results, but had my blood drawn yesterday. Will report when results arrive.

I've reloaded for 50 years and never had an issue until I started using a very poor ventilating range.
 
I have been a bullet caster since 1993 and shoot a frequent amount of them along with sizing and lubing. The highest test I have had has been 3. I suspect an outside source.
Lead is found in nature everywhere.
 
A few years ago, a co-worker nearly died of thallium poisoning(I'm a chemist) and as a precaution I asked my doctor to run a panel of basically every metal that I'd handled in the past couple of years.

The only one that came back as a little bit elevated was lead at 19 µg/dL. At the time I was shooting a lot at indoor ranges, so I laid off a bit and a few months later was in the 10 µg/dL range. I haven't worried about it since, although I think this is something that anyone who shoots should at least have in the back of their head.

I am very careful now about cleaning up, especially at the indoor range. I scrub my hands, arms, and face with De-lead soap followed by regular soap and water before leaving.

BTW, I reload and cast also. I do all my casting outdoors and stay as far away from the pot as I can. My biggest worry with reloading is the junk that falls out of the primer pocket when you decap a case, and I try to be smart about keep that dust cleaned up and under control. I also sonicate my brass before tumbling, which should(theoretically) keep any lead dust from inside the cartridges to a minimum.
 
I came back 20-something once. I was shooting indoors fairly often and was reloading a LOT and tumbling dirty brass in my garage a LOT. Lots of dust. I started soaking my brass in Lemi Shine before tumbling, tumbled outdoors and don't shoot as often.
 
I am sure that my house that I lived in so long originally had lead based paint. I reloaded lots of lead bullets and shot a lot and I am still around. I guess I washed my hands good enough and didn't breath enough to affect me.
 
When I was a Welder/Fabricator there were two Guys that worked with Lead Plates to line Acid Tanks,They would use a hand torch and a roll of Lead about as thick around as a persons index finger to join the edges(like soldering). Twice a year they would need to go to the Hospital and have treatment where they ran calcium through Them to remove the Lead from their systems as that is the only thing that really works.Hopefully things are a bit more advanced these days.
 
The results of the blood test for lead after I month of no shooting or reloading came in at 19.0. Down from 27.3. That's good news. Shot yesterday and trying to watch what I do. It was Cold in the range and I felt the sweatshirt I had on was full of lead from shooting the revolvers. When I put the coat over it, the coat was contaminated also. This is playing with me big time. Sorta like if the range had bed bugs and they may follow me home in the clothes I wear. Doc said to recheck in 6 weeks, i'll wait 2 months. Larry
 
Last edited:
I received my report just before Christmas and have been a little tardy in reporting. My lead was 9, way down from two years ago. The only thing I did was to take 1000mg vitamin C every day.

Mine went steadily up after shooting at poorly ventilated indoor ranges. Don't know what it was to begin with, but after shooting two or three times a week for a year or two in an indoor range, it was 14. The range was finally shut down.

We went to another indoor range, which I suspect as not being any better and my lead kept increasing until it was about 30. Also, we are shooting at a new range which is very well maintained and has very good ventilation.

We shot jacketed bullets, but I noticed that the back of jacketed bullets are open to the lead core, at least on the ones I have looked at. I know some brands are totally enclosed, but our brand was not.
 
Hi Larry, sitting here waiting for the coffee to finish and had a thought. Might your lead level also have something with your recently completed career, lots of sanding metal, paints and fillers and such. might be worth mentioning to your former coworkers.

Best Keith
 
I have slightly elevated lead levels. Most likely not cautious enough while reloading . Also firing revolvers a lot , spraying lead everywhere.
The indoor range I shoot at has a pretty modern exhaust system but I wear a pair of gloves and a lead rated particle mask when I shoot these days.
Wear gloves and mask when I reload as well.
I'm shooting lots of lead because I'm doing traditional Bulls Eye shooting and like those LHBWC.
Heck, I don't think any of my 38sp loads are MJ. Only the 9mm and I don't shoot much 9mm , too damn loud !
Wish we had some outdoor ranges around here these days , but the last ones were closed in the 90's. Urban/Suburban sprawl.
 
Good thoughts Keith, this Feb will be 2 yrs I retired. Would hope the levels would have gone down since but that's an idea.

Al W, when was your last blood check. I'm glad on a whim, we checked it.

Not sure if Medicare will pay for the last test, will find out as time passes. May be able to use the VA for the one in 2 months if Medicare won't pay. Larry
 
Last edited:
BlueRidgeBoy said:
Generally, in adults, any concentrations of lead in the blood > 45 mcg/dL warrant treatment. So, 70 definitely puts you in that range.

What is often prescribed is an FDA-approved treatment called "chelation" (key-LAY-shun) therapy. One of several drugs is introduced into the body. The drug binds with the lead, and is then excreted. Over time, this will lower lead levels to within normal limits. You should talk to your doctor about this.
Click to expand...

Had Chelation Therapy done when my lead level got out of control. Would go to the ER once a week for 10 weeks and got an IV treatment every time. I was exposed to lead fumes when I worked at an indoor range from the lead dust in the air.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BabaBlueJay
Sticky 22LR in Gallon Bag
Replies
5
Views
309
desi2358
D
H
Reloading .455 Webley Mark II
Replies
6
Views
361
minconrevo
M
chief38
updated 02/14 - MY COLT 1911 COLT GOLD CUP WEIRDED OUT YESTERDAY - OR SO I THOUGHT!
Replies
29
Views
3K
Golddollar
Golddollar
tlawler
Figured out the best way to clean suppressor baffles
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
shunka
S
B
My first squib
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
gunfun51
G

Latest posts

Back
Top