mas Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 Well, I've been having a lot of problems this week.....it started on Saturday after a prolonged shooting session at my local indoor range......I experienced a splitting headache, which was then accompanied by ringing in my left ear, confusion, difficulties with word finding, and forgetfulness.....I slept and slept. I went to the Doctor a few days ago and had blood drawn. I specifically asked them, on a whim, to check the concentration of lead in my blood...the doctor left a message today saying that he found elevated levels of lead....what a blow. I'm really upset right now.....I suppose the good news is that I don't have anything that would resemble my worst fears, but this is bad....He instructed me NOT to go to the range until he and I have a chance to see one another. He indicated that I would need to see an occupational therapist (I thought that was funny) to discuss what I can do to prevent this kind of exposure in the future. I'll probably have to wear some funny respirator or something....anyway, just thought I would share. Take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve223 Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 That SUCKS!! Take care of it now so it wont get any worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 19, 2004 Author Share Posted August 19, 2004 Thanks....I guess I'll have to find (a) an outdoor range and ( a respirator for indoor ranges.....Man, I had SO many things to work on this weekend.........i'm hurting. Found this link, which I would highly recommend to anybody who does a lot of shooting (that means YOU): http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/msds/lead.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 I've had this problem in the past. Doctor says that you take in more lead via touch than you do via breathing in the vapors but I'm not too sure I buy that anymore. Indoor ranges are a no-no if you want to keep lead levels down. The day I decided to avoid them whenever possible is the day my lead levels began to drop. It's something to be concerned about because lead will "settle" into the soft tissue of the body and it's there for life, you never completely get rid of it. No wonder I'm so HEAVY ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 You think it's safe for me to shoot outdoors this weekend, or am I pushing it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry Cazes Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 My wife and I went through this last year. My blood lead level was at 38 and hers was 24. 10 is the safe limit! After much agonizing I decided to do two things. We stopped shooting indoors completely and I started wearing rubber gloves when reloading and cleaning guns. If you shoot jacketed or plated bullets, then most of the lead comes from the primers. Anytime you come into contact with soot on cases or your guns, it is potentially harmful. I tried wearing a respirator to continue to shoot indoors but it was too uncomfortable to make it worth it. After taking these precautions, our lead levels dropped below the limit and have been in the noise since. Go ahead and shoot outdoors and just be careful about handling fired cases etc. We practice at least once a week and shoot 3-4 matches a month all outdoors and have no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Aviod indoor ranges at all cost. Most indoor ranges get shut down because of high levels of airborne lead. If you handle your firearm or bullets, wash your hand afterwards. Wash your hands again before you eat anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 There is a way to chemically breakdown lead in the body. It requires massive amount of anti oxidants. It includes Vitamin A, C, B, E in very large quantities. This is a trick from the early 90's when we were shooting 155gr lead out of supers. As for the indoor range Marstillers has very low circulation inside it. Very bad place to leave with your health intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 THANK YOU, guys. I appreciate the support and help very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Lead poisoning is a slow, long-term thing-- it takes a long time to be noticeable and it takes a long time to go away. Good hygine, and not eating/smoking after shooting are the first steps, along with regular checkups. Chelation therapy (how they fix extremely elevated lead) is no fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 http://www.advance-health.com/chelation.html Check this link. Also 350-700mg per KG of body weight to remove lead has been documented to work. 2g per day for continuous use for continued exposure. Also maintain: Calcium at 100mg Vitamin D at 940 Units Vitamin A at 9400 units Vitamin B6 at 250mg Also years ago they made a drink for shooters that removed lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 I don't know if your Doctor told you "by touch" as in absorbed through the skin (a very low-volume pathway, almost negligible) or by touch, as in; once you touch lead you then eat, drink, smoke, etc. Huge volume pathway. And if your clothes get contaminated, (common indoors, less sooutdoors) every time your hands touch your clothes you get re-contaminated. Indoors is bad, but can be controlled with a strict hand-washing routine, and immediately changing and washing your range clothes. Indoor ranges get in trouble more often via the staff than the clients. Someone has to monitor the shooters, clean the range, repair the equipment, etc, etc, etc. The staff can easily get over exposed in short order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Buff Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 What realy helps to get lead out of your system is milk. It contains most of what Kingman lists in reletivly high qty's. Try to drink a litre per day... A lead/copper mine I used to work for, as an additional heath thingy, gave all the smelter personnel 1 L milk per day free which they had to drink during work hours (and some reduced price for milk coupons.....) I must have me-self checked again...TNX for the reminder.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 DeadBuff - makes perfect sense, I never thought about that one. I do know that OJ helps but once again alot of the same vitamins. The indoor range where he shoots has almost 0 circulation of fresh air. I shot there once very bad mojo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 I hate milk....can i drink chocalate milk? Well, I spoke with my doctor...my lead level is at 44 mcg/dl!!!!!!! I'm feeling a lot better (go go renal system), but I still experience low-grade dizziness and my short-term memory has seen better days. I'm going to the store to stock up on vitamins and such.....To ensure remyelination of my nervous system, I'll be taking some B-complex vitamins and omega-III fatty acids. I want my darn brain to work again! I want to go shooting this weekend, but unless it happens outside, it's not going to happen. I'm calling my friend, who runs Marstiller's, right now to discuss what's been going on. I'm sure he won't be pleased. There's GOT to be a way to smoke and shoot.....rubber gloves, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 MAS, As everyone else said, you MUST stop shooting inside. I shot inside for a while and got high lead as well. Don't shoot and smoke or eat. Carry hand wipes / baby wipes in your range bag and put some on your reloading bench. Use them often. Don't shoot lead and use complete jacketed bullets. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 ..Use win clean ammo, or other clean ammo if you must shoot indoors. the PMC green stuff uses a lead free bullet... as for smoking and shooting, in an indoor range, 45 acp, 200 grain swc and 5.5 grains win 231 will make all the smoke needed smoking is bad for ya anyway. Now i have given up(except 45) lead bullets. they are nasty, smoke and generally suck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 Again, thanks a bunch, guys....sound advice, indeed. I hope to go shooting tomorrow (OUTSIDE of course) and I will be sure to follow proper safety precautions. If I come back and begin typing like this: dkjfaldajf;lda;sf ...then you know it didn't go well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 went shooting this past weekend....feeling much better and should be getting back into the swing of things....didn't shoot well (at all) but I did shoot. Saw my doctor today. We was pretty impressed that I got over the symptoms within a week. When asked what I might have taken to aid my recovery, I listed the following: Ester C Omega III fatty acids B vitamin complex good multi with high protein and a little zinc (less than 80 mg Zn daily) This seemed to work pretty well, so if ever any of you should be unfortuante enough to have this happen, perhaps you can try what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I shoot at an idoor range more than I would like to, but I try to do as much as possible to keep the lead down. Fully jacketed or plated bullets helps, good air flow helps, and I am thinking about getting a mask for when I am practicing indoors. Thanks to all for the good info. I am going to start back on the multi vitamins, try to drink more milk, and the rest. Anything I can do to keep the lead count down is worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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