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Lead poisoning while hand loading


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11 hours ago, Covfefe said:

I saw one repsponse about lead level checks. Did everyone just call their primary care physician and ask to be checked?

 

Did you have to get into why or did they just do it? 

 

If I call my downtown Washington DC doctor and ask for lead test they will probably freak! “Hello 911, this guy has a stockpile of bullets...probably hundreds or even thousands!”

i have a blood test regularly due to high blood pressure etc. so i began almost 10 years ago asking for the lead level test. currently i am at 19 which is high. 0-10 is considered normal.

there seems to be two different blood level tests at Quest and one is included in my HMO the other cost $100. get the free one.

at 50ug/dL which is micrograms per deciliter of blood. sort of the 'mad hatter' syndrome.

be careful!

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On 8/25/2017 at 4:56 PM, RevolverJockey said:

If you use any any kind of acid solution like peracedic acid to clean barrels or suppressor the lead is converted into lead acetate and is basically water solvable and be absorbed through the skin.

 

That's paracetic acid, with a t, not a d, and when made from household white vinegar at 5% and hydrogen peroxide at 3%, it is not harm full. It's the old Bullseye shooters recipe for the lead cocktail, and has been in use for decades. The concentrations are simply too low to cause problems. The lead is dissolved by the peroxide, and remains in solution in the weak acid, it will not form lead acetate at room temperature. The best way to dispose of the couple of ounces used is to pour the solution onto paper towels and let it dry out. To form lead acetate  requires boiling acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide( at much higher concentrations than household strength). Which is what croaked the Romans because they boiled fruit juice in lead pots to produce a concentrated sweetner....

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On ‎11‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 5:31 AM, Covfefe said:

I saw one repsponse about lead level checks. Did everyone just call their primary care physician and ask to be checked?

 

Did you have to get into why or did they just do it? 

 

If I call my downtown Washington DC doctor and ask for lead test they will probably freak! “Hello 911, this guy has a stockpile of bullets...probably hundreds or even thousands!”

Again, Dr. doesn't care one way or the other. if he is asked by CDC or OSHA it is only whether this is work related. i sent them packing.

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8 hours ago, 9x45 said:

Those must be fairly new. Are the reliable? Allot of the non toxic LEO ammo I see used around here doesn't run 100%.

No issues other than the primers aren’t as uniform as the CCI ones we used previously.  They won’t load with a vibra prime and one got stuck in the primer tube on the 650.

 

otherwise click = Bang 100% and give a little more bang than CCI.  Given they are equal in price give or take a $1 it’s a win win.

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Same as others have stated: I was MDing an indoor IDPA weekly event and got up to 18, then quit shooting indoors altogether.

 

Six months later I was down to 10, without changing my frequent reloading sessions in any way, and still consistently shooting outside. Now it’s low enough that I don’t bother testing any more.

 

I was laodong coated bullets that entire time. Btw. I’ve never loaded or shot bare lead bullets.

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If was found that I had high lead one year after I had started shooting weekly indoor matches.  After that I continued to cast, reload and shoot outdoor matches and my lead levels went back down.  They remain OK but I only shoot indoors for larger matches now no more regular club matches.

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Honestly, the pattern I see here from everyone is "indoor shooting".  that seems to be jacking up everyone's lead blood level from what everyone is posting.  It seems those that have stopped shooting or RO/MD'ing indoors that their blood level has gone down.

 

So, that should tell you something right there about indoor ranges.  I don't even think the best ones can get the air clean and filtered enough, let alone the ones that are smoky inside and such.

 

So, just judging by what others have mentioned in this thread, I think you would be good to go and okay as long as you didn't do any indoor shooting (or at least consistently).  I'll bet then your levels would most likely be in the normal range unless you are doing something truly funky like sucking on a lead bullet or something.  LOL 

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We bought these the other day after seeing someone wear one at an indoor match.  Easy to take off when it's your turn to shoot.

http://respro.com/pollution-masks

We were in the first squad that day but half way through we didn't really help patch and reset, it got nasty back there.

 

We have the 3m pink dust masks ones but they are a pain in the ass to take on and off.  At the 2nd indoor match that day  (different location) we stuck around to help tear down and on went the 3M masks.  Guess who swept up?

Edited by MikeyScuba
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On 11/19/2017 at 8:31 AM, Covfefe said:

I saw one repsponse about lead level checks. Did everyone just call their primary care physician and ask to be checked?

 

Did you have to get into why or did they just do it? 

 

If I call my downtown Washington DC doctor and ask for lead test they will probably freak! “Hello 911, this guy has a stockpile of bullets...probably hundreds or even thousands!”

Just tell the doctor you are doing stained glass. Most good solder for stained glass contains lead. This is what I tell my doctor and he does the check with no additional questions.

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  • 1 month later...

So my lead test came back and I was pretty shocked. 

 

Zero....zilch....nada. No lead detected. 

 

I shoot indoors 2-4x a month, so I was expecting to at least register a minimal level ...5-10 was my guess.

 

I am very cautious otherwise by:

-Washing hands up to elbow after shooting. Face too.

-Not eating around or after shooting 

-Keeping my “shooting footwear” out of house in garage

-Immediately tossing clothes in washer and taking shower after range trip

-Range bag comes in house and isn’t put down until at storage location

-Cleaning with gloves on 

-Washing hands every time I handle guns, ammo or components 

 

...but moral of the story is that modern ranges with good circulation are probably safe.

 

YMMV. 

Edited by Covfefe
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I was at 32 and had to do chelation therapy... man did that suck.. I was sick for months and the drs tested everything...but lead.. even dot an endoscopy and colonoscopy.. talk about being violated and not even being able to enjoy....  :o  happen to be at a match and someone asked if I was ever tested for lead... called dr that Monday and was told nope... and behold  I was a bit elevated.. I was having issues with keeping food or water down, always sick to my stomach, headaches etc... well a yr later and I'm hovering around 6-8 with loading and shooting a few times a week.  

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I casted my own lead bullets for about 5 years and at some point asked my doctor to do a blood test for it. He looked at me strange and I explained to him what I did, his thoughts were as long as I wasn't sticking my fingers in my mouth after touching the lead that it was probably ok but I had my levels checked anyways. I don't remember what the numbers were maybe 6 so I guess as long as you keep it out of your mouth you'll be fine. 

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1 hour ago, Covfefe said:

So my lead test came back and I was pretty shocked. 

 

Zero....zilch....nada. No lead detected. 

 

I shoot indoors 2-4x a month, so I was expecting to at least register a minimal level ...5-10 was my guess.

 

I am very cautious otherwise by:

-Washing hands up to elbow after shooting. Face too.

-Not eating around or after shooting 

-Keeping my “shooting footwear” out of house in garage

-Immediately tossing clothes in washer and taking shower after range trip

-Range bag comes in house and isn’t put down until at storage location

-Cleaning with gloves on 

-Washing hands every time I handle guns, ammo or components 

 

...but moral of the story is that modern ranges with good circulation are probably safe.

 

YMMV. 

This is great news! Congratulations! 

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  • 4 months later...

I went from (probably) zero to 46 in 3-4 years shooting without mask and then to 52 in one year shooting indoors and breathing through 3M mask with 6055 Gas and Vapour Cartridge, prefixed with Particulate Filter. Weak ventilation, metal bullet trap, shooting plate racks - a lot of microparticle lead dust. My reloading procedures are strict. No eating or drinking during or after the shooting, with some exceptions for big outdoor matches.

Quit shooting indoors last week.

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I just got mine tested and ended up with a 12.9

October through April I shoot in two indoor PPC leagues which amount to 1-2 times a week.

During the nice weather months everything is outdoors. I think I'll get tested again in 5 months before the indoors starts up again to see if it goes down.

Not that the value is super high, but I was pretty surprised since those indoor matches only amount to about 300-500 rounds a month.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

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  • 2 months later...

Read with great interest all the lead issues as it relates to your blood level. Mine last year was 6. 12+ months later it was 11. I do shoot some indoor ranges mostly new ranges with so called state of the art ventilation. 2 matches outdoors a month and 1-2 practice outdoors per week. SO I purchased a lead test kit from Lowe’s. Per directions the following results, rubbing test strip on a lead fishing sinker test turned med- dark purple, definitely positive, no surprise. Next the wooded plywood sheet with my dry media tumbler and my squirrel cage media separater reside no lead present, test strip stayed white. Went over to my Mark7 1050 unit ran test strip over the plastic guard and on the aluminum base, positive lite to medium purple/reddish. Just thought I would put my results out there. Comments welcome.  Thanks....

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Lots of good threads. See: castboolits, the firing line, the high road and others. All deal with this topic; lead in blood. 

My Dr. isolated lead stryphonite in primers as a main cause. 

Long story short; wash everything after shooting. Hands face body clothes. Probably same for casting smelting and loading. 

I did and now lead in blood going down.  It takes years. 

Edited by Max It
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In my case the level dropped to very low in just months, but with some serious levels more time will be needed - I started at 15. 

 

Two main changes - went with wet tumbling and started using the exhaust fan at our indoor range religiously.  Used to be somewhat sporadic. 

 

Bottom line is - you CAN bring it down with some simple means. 

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Don’t forget there are lead free primers.  I use them in our semi’s.  The revolvers though still Federals, I might try The Fiocchi non-tox primers again in the revo’s once I have a proper machine to set the primer depth.  I’m not sure if The Fiocchis are too hard or I was having seating issues (light strikes)

 Oddly the only 2 primers I’ve set off in my 650 are the Fiocchi non-toxic ones.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/29/2017 at 5:41 PM, bandw1dth said:

Reading this thread has me wanting to get my lead levels tested. Never have before. Where's everyone go to get them tested at? Is there a home kit type thing you can do or is this a blood test type thing?


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My Dr. has me go to a lab. i go regularly to regulate high blood pressure anyway.

p.s. the blood lead level is because of lead styphnate in the primers

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