What are your thoughts on lead exposure?

I got this from a toxicologist:

Much of the information out there about lead poisoning is nothing more than alarmist science. I work in a toxicology lab and am always amazed at the bad rap that lead gets. Let's look at a few things:

- The lead in lead paint is in the form of organic lead and lead salts, NOT METALLIC LEAD. Both organic lead and lead salts are easily absorbed if you eat something contaminated with it or put your fingers in your mouth after handling something contaminated with it.

- Lead poisoning of waterfowl after eating the metallic lead. This is actually true and why I think so many folks are so scared of metallic lead. But there is a big difference between waterfowl and humans. Waterfowl have gizzards. The lead shot that the bird eats gets trapped in the gizard and very slowly erodes, is converted into bioavailable lead salts thanks to digestive acids, and is absorbed into the circulation. This can only occur because the lead shot gets stuck in the gizzard and is continuously ground releasing microscopic lead particles into the digestive tract.

Humans do not have a gizzard and thus a lead pellet and other metallic lead will pass thru quickly and no harm will come of it.

- But I know PB enthusiasts that have suffered lead poisoning from handling lead bullets. No you don't. The biggest problem that PB enthusiasts have with lead is from the propellant. When the propellant burns it gives off vapors of lead salts (again, not metallic lead). These lead salts are dangerous and why you should not routinely shoot a PB indoors, except in a very well ventilated range.

- What about lead dust? What if you inhale lead dust?

Have you ever seen lead dust? I bet you really haven't. It is still lead and no matter how fine a dust particle it is ground in to, it is still many, many, many, many, many times heavier than air and immediately falls to the floor. Now I'm sure that you could devise a way to inhale lead dust, but it would need to be intentionally done.

- What about that black stuff I get on my fingers after handling CPL and CPH pellets. That stuff is not lead (IIRC it is actually graphite) and even if it was lead your body has no easy way of absorbing metallic lead.

- Lead vapors, what about lead vapors? I heard they are extremely toxic. And if we are melting lead to cast our own pellets, or bullets, or fishing sinkers, then we will die.

No you won't, unless you have a really, really hot smelting furnace. Lead melts at 328 Celsius (622 F) but doesn't vaporize until around 1,700 Celsius (3,092 F). Now should you actually reach the vaporization temperature, you will have a problem.

I could go on, but will stop at this point.

Yeahhh. I smoke with my left hand and load ammo with my right hand and try to wash frequently. Going to try washing and lubing pellets so my hands arent all grey.

My mentor smoked while lead soldering and had a bullet stuck in him for decades and his lead levels were always fine.

The amount of lead dust inside a moderator is ridiculous tho, and it gives me pause on shooting inside without floor cleaning.

None.

I shoot Squirrel to protect the bird feeder and truck and car wire's . If it is not a pass thru i chop the head off so the Foxes dinner is lead free .

I asked my Dr to test for lead several years ago during my yearly physical (blood test) . There were negligible levels...........no problem .

Unfortunately , my PSA was extremely elevated. But that's another issue , not for here . I just don't see lead from handling pellets as a major health issue.

I don't handle pellets/bullets enough to feel as though I will get poisoned by it. Besides, after doing any shooting, I always wash anyways.

Interesting post on the difference between lead salts and metallic lead. I like seeing significant ventilation at indoor PB ranges and there is at least one in the area that runs water over the back stop too. That might not be necessary but it seems like it shouldn't cost a lot.

I do not routinely wash my hands after shooting pellets but if I clean my shroud and notice a lot of dust or if I spend a long time sorting pellets I wash my hands. I don't know if it is necessary but my hands look dirty so they get washed.

I read a couple articles. They agree that absorption through the skin is not likely. Breathing lead or eating it seem to be the big risks. But if you have lead on your skin and then handle your food you could inadvertantly injest a little. They also state that most cases are the result of occupational exposure. Battery recycling on other industries involving lead. I did not see any indication that shooting sports is a risk factor.

It seems likely the young man in the video either shot a lot indoors at an unventilated range or got lead in his system another way.

No issues with lead. Easy to work with, might be a reason why some don't want U to have it.

Alcohol is more dangerous.yet some people are oblivious.

I have never worried about lead from metal. Ever since I was younger i have to cut the tops off batteries and melted them in a hot pot to make fishing weights. More recently using it with a .457 round ball mold i acquired.

But, the thing I was concerned with and never really got a real answer about is what the effect was from all the leaded gas fumes we breathed in as a kid, or worse I remember sucking in gas from a hose and spitting it out to siphon into a can when we went camping.

As a kid, I would keep an extra few pellets in my mouth while hunting. I would use my teeth to close split shots while fishing. While I no longer use split shot...and dont keep pellets in my mouth any more, I am less than fastidious about hand washing after handling pellets or casting bullets.

After 52 years of lead exposure of varying degrees, I am relatively healthy, I have at least some of my wits about me, two eyes, two arms, all fingers and at least an average size member.

I have zero concerns. I would venture a guess that if bullets and pellets were made of stone, there would have been studies out that 'stone exposure' was also bad for you. Just my .02

As a Medical Technologist (Laboratory scientist) I have always been aware of an wary off any type of heavy metal poisoning. Not as much of a problem today, but early canned food used cans sealed with a lead/tin mixture that could very definitely cause lead poisoning.
Here is an interesting article with historical significance https://www.historytoday.com/archive/canned-food-sealed-icemens-fate
Those who handle lead with a white powder forming on it are also more likely to gain more exposure as this is a "salt" that if ingested can lead to lead poisoning and can be absorbed through the lungs.
The mention of lead in indoor facilities and the fact that lead dust is heavier than air is correct, however breathing in molecular lead leads to rapid exposure, and there will be some molecular lead when shooting cast lead bullets. About a two decades ago I switched to using either copper jacketed bullets with no exposed lead base, or to coated/plated bullets that have been shown to reduce lead when firing (also makes cleaning barrels much easier.
It has been a very long time since I melted any lead for casting, but it is an excellent Idea to do so in very well ventilated area. Lead isn't the only heavy metal released when melting lead alloys, and most lead is an alloy of some type.

The people with numbers after their names above are offering good information. If you're worried about the possibility of elevated blood lead levels, then get yourself tested and follow the recommended protocols for managing the problem.

Mine was considered as elevated for a long while because of (minimal) work exposure, PB reloading and lots of range time. It was never enough to be concerned about. I've met a few people that were near requiring chelation, but management forced them to get a handle on it. Hygiene is key. Wash up after shooting and you'll be fine.

Cheers,

J~

Everything we do has some danger, I guess we could all just set in the corner.....but wait, that's unhealthy too

When I was. Young man I drove truck and delivered plumbing supplies. I met an older gentleman who did lead welding on the Manhattan project. He was a certified lead welder and that was his career. When I met him he was 74 years old and still making custom lead roof flashings and doing government work on special projects.
He died of………..
old age at the age in his late 80’s.
like jps2486, I think there are hazards with lead but they are overblown and exaggerated. I don’t pay much attention to my handling of pellets or cast bullets. Wash my hands often enough that I don’t worry about it and I am not in the habit of sticking my fingers in my ears, nose or mouth.

jps2486 said:

I got this from a toxicologist:

Much of the information out there about lead poisoning is nothing more than alarmist science. I work in a toxicology lab and am always amazed at the bad rap that lead gets. Let's look at a few things:

- The lead in lead paint is in the form of organic lead and lead salts, NOT METALLIC LEAD. Both organic lead and lead salts are easily absorbed if you eat something contaminated with it or put your fingers in your mouth after handling something contaminated with it.

- Lead poisoning of waterfowl after eating the metallic lead. This is actually true and why I think so many folks are so scared of metallic lead. But there is a big difference between waterfowl and humans. Waterfowl have gizzards. The lead shot that the bird eats gets trapped in the gizard and very slowly erodes, is converted into bioavailable lead salts thanks to digestive acids, and is absorbed into the circulation. This can only occur because the lead shot gets stuck in the gizzard and is continuously ground releasing microscopic lead particles into the digestive tract.

Humans do not have a gizzard and thus a lead pellet and other metallic lead will pass thru quickly and no harm will come of it.

- But I know PB enthusiasts that have suffered lead poisoning from handling lead bullets. No you don't. The biggest problem that PB enthusiasts have with lead is from the propellant. When the propellant burns it gives off vapors of lead salts (again, not metallic lead). These lead salts are dangerous and why you should not routinely shoot a PB indoors, except in a very well ventilated range.

- What about lead dust? What if you inhale lead dust?

Have you ever seen lead dust? I bet you really haven't. It is still lead and no matter how fine a dust particle it is ground in to, it is still many, many, many, many, many times heavier than air and immediately falls to the floor. Now I'm sure that you could devise a way to inhale lead dust, but it would need to be intentionally done.

- What about that black stuff I get on my fingers after handling CPL and CPH pellets. That stuff is not lead (IIRC it is actually graphite) and even if it was lead your body has no easy way of absorbing metallic lead.

- Lead vapors, what about lead vapors? I heard they are extremely toxic. And if we are melting lead to cast our own pellets, or bullets, or fishing sinkers, then we will die.

No you won't, unless you have a really, really hot smelting furnace. Lead melts at 328 Celsius (622 F) but doesn't vaporize until around 1,700 Celsius (3,092 F). Now should you actually reach the vaporization temperature, you will have a problem.

I could go on, but will stop at this point.

Click to expand...

Actually, lead dust can remain airborne for quite some time.

Two ways to be contaminated are by ingestion and inhalation, wash your hands and don't breathe the dust.

Very low likelihood to breathe it as a result of shooting or swaging pellets. Lead chromate, lead oxide, and lead carbonate, the forms usually found in old paint are not likely to be present in pellets and slugs. Nielsen did some air sampling at his facility and found no issues with his environment.

As far as heating and casting lead, lead fumes form at about 900f, so there is a greater likelihood of contamination with that activity if you over heat it. If you have done lead casting, go to Home Depot and get lead swabs and test horizontal surfaces in that area to ensure your location is not contaminated. Casting should only be done with active HEPA ventilation, proper PPE, and hygienic practices. Get a blood lead level test if you do casting, if for nothing else, to get a baseline.

Personally, I believe that the more accurate our testing abilities and equipment get, the more paranoia is generated. We learn new things all the time ... things that we have been exposed to and have dealt with for centuries ... but now thanks to modern science, can measure to the nth degree and determine that "X" amount of exposure is bad for you, when for centuries, people had as much or more "contamination" in their bodies with no apparent effects over the course of their lives.

I'm not dismissing the effects of lead poisoning in anyway, and you should take reasonable precautions... like don't chew lead pellets or bullets, and don't stand over a lead melting pot and deep inhale the fumes. But if you're taking reasonable precautions, it's most likely a non-issue.

That being said, a bit over 30 years ago, I had a significant lead exposure incident. 115 grains of copper coated lead was 'injected' into my lower leg and 'migrated' to my ankle joint. Drs said the lead contamination needed to be removed, as the fluids in the joint COULD dissolve the metallic lead and cause poisoning. As it happened, I had far more ill-effects from the insertion and migration of the metallic lead than anything else.

Although, to this day, my wife STILL gets pissed about me telling people I had "Lead Poisoning" when they asked why I was on crutches, wearing a leg brace ...

WASH YOUR HANDS.

Yep, I carried pellets in my mouth when I was a kid and it didn't seem to affect me.. affect me.. affect me.