Have you tested your blood lead level?

[Mike_P]

I was able to bring my levels from 37 to 10 by taking an all natural heavy metal cleanse. I also stopped shooting indoors.

I still load and shoot lead. I don't cast. I take the cleanse once a year now just to keep the levels in check. It is all vitamins, herbs, and amino acids but you need to have iron levels checked yearly also.

Here is what I take LINK It has worked for me and others I have recommended it to. As an aside, it is also Gluten free if you are sensitive to that (I got that too )

Interesting stuff. From the description and reviews it looks like I'll have to get some for my Girlfriend too. Seems like it may benefit her.

[lugnut]

Doug- that sounds tough. I'm surprised it took so long to drop. I too had headaches as the only symptoms- and they were nasty! My doctor too had no idea what was causing them and it was a complete coincidence that I asked for a BLL test... I had no idea it WAS the cause of my headaches. However my level were tested at a 56 and dropped to the 30s within a few months if I recall correctly. It has been consistently in the high teens most recently. I don't get the headaches anymore like I used to... but unfortunately headaches are caused by other things as well... and I get one or two ever few months these days. I often wonder sometimes if the loud percussion of indoor shooting exacerbates the headaches as well.

Could I ask you what your "normal" numbers are these days? Do you shoot at all these days? Prior to your daughter/wife starting up again?

The problem with lead IMO is that it effects everyone differently. Who knows what long term lead exposure at even modest levels can do to you. It's sad because I love the sport so much... but I'm willing to take some risk but I hide from indoor ranges as much as I can. Wish you the best.

[TacticalReload]

As I mentioned previously, I've been extremely paranoid recently about lead exposure since we were expecting a child. Now that the newborn is here, I finally got around to getting my levels checked. They came back as "less than 3" so it looks like the paranoia worked even though in the past 3 months I've probably shot about 3k rounds (mostly plated at an outdoor range) and reloaded (including tumbling) at least that many. I don't eat, drink, or smoke while shooting or reloading and am careful not to get my hands near my face. I tumble outdoors and am obsessive about washing my hands after handing ammo, guns, or magazines. I don't, however, wear gloves at any times while doing any of those activities.

[MrWizard]

Doug- that sounds tough. I'm surprised it took so long to drop. I too had headaches as the only symptoms- and they were nasty! My doctor too had no idea what was causing them and it was a complete coincidence that I asked for a BLL test... I had no idea it WAS the cause of my headaches. However my level were tested at a 56 and dropped to the 30s within a few months if I recall correctly. It has been consistently in the high teens most recently. I don't get the headaches anymore like I used to... but unfortunately headaches are caused by other things as well... and I get one or two ever few months these days. I often wonder sometimes if the loud percussion of indoor shooting exacerbates the headaches as well.

Could I ask you what your "normal" numbers are these days? Do you shoot at all these days? Prior to your daughter/wife starting up again?

The problem with lead IMO is that it effects everyone differently. Who knows what long term lead exposure at even modest levels can do to you. It's sad because I love the sport so much... but I'm willing to take some risk but I hide from indoor ranges as much as I can. Wish you the best.

I can post my entire panel if anyone cares that much .. here are the highlights as of Friday March 9th 2012..

WBC 2.10 Normal is 4.5-11 10^3/ul

RBC 2.8 Normal is 4.5-5.9 10^6/ul

HGB 9.6 Normal is 13.5-17.5 g/dl

HCT 26.5 Normal is 41.0-53%

PLT 11 Normal is 130-400k 10^3/ul

NE# 1 Normal is 1.5-6.6 10^3/ul

LY# 0.9 Normal is 0.9-4.8 10^3/ul

MO# 0.2 Normal is 0.1-1.0 10^3/ul

BA# 0.0 Normal is 0.0-0.3 10^3/ul

MPV 6.7 Normal is 7.4-10.4 FL.

My lead was tested 2 weeks ago and it is at 12d/ml it has never been below 10 in 15 years since "retiring" My iron is also very high

I still shoot .. Though not indoors any more and nothing like I did in the past as far as quantity of rounds down range. Really only since January of this year as thats when the family caught the bug .. Prior to that, I'd rarely shot in the past 15 years.. Just enough to keep my CHL and a few company/work related things with scatterguns.

[9x45]

So after 44 years of shooting competition in different venues, I finally decided to get test for lead. And to be factual, I have averaged a competition match every weekend, or more often, for the last 14 years, all outdoors. Anyway, the level is 12. You can only get lead in your system by breathing it in, or ingesting it. Lead will not go thru your skin. I am now using lead wipes after handling the steel, and after every match before eating. I expect a reduction in level count when I next get tested in 3 months.

[anilson]

I shoot a bunch and coach a bunch, very little indoors but got my lead level checked this week and was right in the middle of normal range. I don't do anything more then wash my hands after reloading.

[sigsauerfan]

i should keep my lead level in check . i'm manager of a big outdoor range since 3 years,haven't checked this out in awhile . last time (5 years ago) i tested i was 10 and doing a lot of indoor matches, at least once a week ; i've never really been worried .

i wash my hands in cold water as much as i can ,but since i'm adjusting a lot of riffle scopes every day during the hunting season (today was 16,sometimes it can reach up to 30) i guess i don't have total control over my lead exposure ... i notice i get into more serious headaches as the season wears off...

[warpspeed]

My most recent test was 9.1. I was happy but nearly as happy that my A1C is 6.1.

Dr asked me why too and I said I live in 100+ year old house and do work all the time. He said OK to the test.

[mgrs]

Great thread!

Possibly stupid question: do lead particles enter the lungs from smoke as cast lead loads are fired? I always thought this was the lube burning.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Great thread!

Possibly stupid question: do lead particles enter the lungs from smoke as cast lead loads are fired? I always thought this was the lube burning.

Lead is not absorbed through your skin. The particles are too large and could never get into blood circulation. The deal with hands is that they always go to the face and touch every thing that goes into the mouth which is the primary way to absorb lead. We also DO absorb lead via air particles into the lungs as that is a direct route into the circulatory system. The smoke you see is mostly make up of the lube. But even in FMJ bullets with an exposed lead base there is some lead burring, how much you could possibly ingest from that little bit would be pretty limited to none I would assume. I would think there's more danger from pickup up brass and not washing your hands after.

Furthermore on the subject of lead on skin and lead that gets imbedded into the body through trauma, it's really no big deal on it's own. It can't really migrate into the circulatory system due to the size of the particles. This is why bullet fragments from gunshot wounds are left alone as long as they are not in danger of causing further physical damage from being left in place. More trauma is caused during their removal then is beneficial to the patient. This has been proven so well that gunshot victims with retained lead fragments are not even checked for lead levels as a general practice.

More information about absorption can be found on the OSHA website:

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=10031&p_table=STANDARDS

II. HEALTH HAZARD DATA

A. Ways in which lead enters your body. When absorbed into your body in certain doses lead is a toxic substance. The object of the lead standard is to prevent absorption of harmful quantities of lead. The standard is intended to protect you not only from the immediate toxic effects of lead, but also from the serious toxic effects that may not become apparent until years of exposure have passed.

Lead can be absorbed into your body by inhalation (breathing) and ingestion (eating). Lead (except for certain organic lead compounds not covered by the standard, such as tetraethyl lead) is not absorbed through your skin. When lead is scattered in the air as a dust, fume or mist it can be inhaled and absorbed through you lungs and upper respiratory tract. Inhalation of airborne lead is generally the most important source of occupational lead absorption. You can also absorb lead through your digestive system if lead gets into your mouth and is swallowed. If you handle food, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, or make-up which have lead on them or handle them with hands contaminated with lead, this will contribute to ingestion.

A significant portion of the lead that you inhale or ingest gets into your blood stream. Once in your blood stream, lead is circulated throughout your body and stored in various organs and body tissues. Some of this lead is quickly filtered out of your body and excreted, but some remains in the blood and other tissues. As exposure to lead continues, the amount stored in your body will increase if you are absorbing more lead than your body is excreting. Even though you may not be aware of any immediate symptoms of disease, this lead stored in your tissues can be slowly causing irreversible damage, first to individual cells, then to your organs and whole body systems.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Fried Chicken Blowout

[sigsauerfan]

wheeww

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

wheeww

You better believe it!

[PinoyShooter06]

It is strongly recommended for anyone coming in contact with lead. My latest number is 15, which sent my doc into a frenzy.

Even though that number still falls within "Normal" range, I will be looking into improving some of my practices.

[PinoyShooter06]

I am at a normal range of 5 - 10 for adult. I am not sure if 15 is still at normal range..

[PinoyShooter06]

It is strongly recommended for anyone coming in contact with lead. My latest number is 15, which sent my doc into a frenzy.

Even though that number still falls within "Normal" range, I will be looking into improving some of my practices.

i use gloves , D-lead and orange cleaner (for mechanic & etc.) as additional precautions. i am really thankful that a very close friend of mine educated me about leads Edited October 12, 2013 by PinoyShooter06

[dferrier]

Going to change some stuff myself now, already using gloves for loading and handling tumblers,

I would venture to say the tumbler, if done indoors, is a major source of contamination. The dust will carry the lead compound residue, and that dust covers the whole area around the tumbler.

For this reason I build an exhaust box around the tumbler. I made a transparent box out of acrylic, with a 6" exhaust duct with fan. Now any time I process the media or work the tumbler, I turn on the suction.

Another thread was talking about using a little mineral spirits in the tumbling media to cut down on dust. I wonder if that would help with lead exposure as well?

[ben b.]

I asked to be tested, and it came back at 29. I did get a call form the state health dept. I did not shoot indoors, I did reload, and I did wash my hands after gun handling, matches & reloading.

I think it came from being casual about breathing dust from the tumbler media, inhaling aerosolized lead particles. I started adding mineral spirits to the media both for cleaning & dust control, and opening the garage to dump and separate in the open air. My levels went down 15 points in 2 years.

[JohnnyD]

Reading this thread has made me paranoid...

I guess I will need to get to the doctor relatively soon and ease my mind. I haven't been to the doctor in over 4 years I think now...

I have only been reloading for a year and shooting heavily for about 6 months but I did recently start casting as well.

If the doctor asks why I would like it tested...any ideas on other than I'm a gun enthusiast? lol

Edited October 21, 2013 by JohnnyD

[Guest]

Tell them that you solder for recreational purposes!

For the last 28 years I've had complete physicals at work which includes BLL, and the past couple of physicals from my personal doc I asked for a BLL test. When my personal Doc asked why I told her that I build/repair guitar amps as a hobby (true) which requires a lot of soldering and she was perfectly good with that and it was covered by insurance.

For me it has always come back in the 6-10 range except for a year where I was an officer at an indoor range and it was like 12. We did a lot of air sampling at that indoor range and the worst was .22LR. The priming compound is a huge contributor to airborne Pb, and that is true for both center fire and rim fire.

Also, tumbling media from reloading can be a significant source. Using a tumbler with a non-vented cover and a covered media separator helps keep the dust contained.

I think that practicing good personally hygiene with good hand washing and not eating/touching food is very important.

At the range I avoid touching any food directly and am careful where I touch a drink container. After shooting I use hand wipes before putting the gear in the car and driving.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Bamboo

[Onagoth]

I had my BLL tested recently after a couple friends came back with elevated results. My results didn't overly concern my doctor but nevertheless I will be trying to reduce exposure.

The BLL was 12 micrograms/dL, which isn't overly high amongst shooters, but much higher than I would like. I do get somewhat routine headaches which I attribute more to caffeine than lead, but who knows.

I am most concerned about the lead in the air, especially from the primers and sweeping afterwards. I am seriously considering wearing a mask on the indoor range from now on.

I've also increased my cleaning regiment much more not so much because I am concerned about absoption, but at how easy it is to pass to little kids (where even small amounts are toxic and the effects are much worse)

Edited October 21, 2013 by Onagoth

[MarkCO]

For a little info, you might read this article: http://dfuse.us/lead.html

[Onagoth]

Thanks Mark....I learned a couple new things from that.

One of the reasons I am considering a mask is because our indoor range doesn't have great ventiliation. Also, when the doors to the storage areas are open (like when cleaning up after a match) the fans automatically kick off.

I for one, didn't consider the lead present when separating brass from reloading media.

[ben b.]

For a little info, you might read this article: http://dfuse.us/lead.html

useful link, thanks for putting that info together.

Mark, would I have met you at the Co State steel match last summer?

[MarkCO]

You certainly might have.

[ben b.]

Tall, ruggedly handsome, quick-witted and the ladies' favorite square dancer?