Lead Exposure

[sandman_sy]

thank you carinab, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Called up the house, had the helpers wash and disinfect the whole room. had basicaly clean and vacumed every place i laid my gun on, or cleaned the gun on.

Never again am i bringing the gun or any or my shooting equipment near my wife, including me before i take a good scrubbin shower.

I love this forum

[Phred]

sandman,

Don’t panic. The pregnancy risk is for a person with already elevated lead levels. From your post it doesn’t seem highly likely your wife would be in that category. That said it makes absolute sense to minimize her exposure to lead. You can start by taking the hygiene precautions mentioned. If your wife is still concerned get a blood test.

Once the baby arrives you should re-double your hygiene routine - SHOES! Why? ‘Cause the little critters crawl on the floor, over the carpet, on the sofa, in the bed, in your lap – and if you’ve tracked lead into the house where’s the first place things go – into the universal testing machine – the kids mouth. For the very young lead at pretty low levels is considered a risk. Once lead gets into carpet/upholstery is difficult to get back out.

If you are concerned do some searches on lead risks. If you read enough you’ll get a feeling about what’s right for you. Its better that you know now and have options.

Do you shoot indoors or outdoors?

Cheers,

Phred

[sandman_sy]

we only have 2 shooting ranges here, all outdoors. heheh. I'm glad its all outdoors.

your advices, and i mean all of them will be applied at home.

before i 4get, I know this is suppose to be a hate forum, but i'd like to thank TBF for bringing this up. It really saved my baby from future harm. and for that, a million thanks.

[Phred]

we only have 2 shooting ranges here, all outdoors. heheh.

Outdoor ranges - that’s a much better situation than the vast majority of indoor facilities. In addition to better hygiene and drugs/diet to reduce my lead levels, the major change I made seven years ago was to stop all indoor training.

Probably the most contaminated areas at an outdoor range are steel plates, poppers and the areas just in front of plates/rails. If I were in your situation I would avoid handling steel – during stage set-up/pull-down, or during the match when scoring/patching/resetting the steel. And of course hygiene. There’s a liquid soap specifically designed for use by those working around lead and I believe there’s a waterless hand cleaner version. It was expensive but perhaps worth it to you. I’ll try and find the details.

Cheers,

Phred

[ipscbob]

There’s a liquid soap specifically designed for use by those working around lead and I believe there’s a waterless hand cleaner version. It was expensive but perhaps worth it to you. I’ll try and find the details.

Cheers,

Phred

Here ya go. These are specially formulated wipes to remove lead and they also make a soap as well. The wipes are nice because they can travel with you to the range. By the way these guys also sell a great scale for reloading, but that's for a different thread........

http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1233

[TBF]

I have been using:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/Pro...-LEAD+CLEANERSg

D-Lead hand cleaner from Brownell's and it cleans up hands really well.

I have been shooting indoors again .

I must be an addict ...

Due to get my level checked again next month.

Travis F.

[blackdragon]

Mine is now a 6. The only thing that I have changed is not shooting!

Ivan

[Steve Moneypenny]

As a poor person without insurance i must ask how much do these tests cost?

Thanks!

[blackdragon]

Not sure my insurance pays for it. I will find out for you. My wife is an office Manager for several Doc's.

Ivan

[Phred]

As a poor person without insurance i must ask how much do these tests cost?

First, if you think you need a test then get your hygiene in order and stop all of the obvious intake sources of your lead. Do it today particularly if your lifestyle risks are high like having young children in the house. It costs virtually nothing to improve your hygiene.

From my experience, in the state where I get tested, there are two kinds of basic lead tests; one is called occupational lead and the other just lead.

Occupational version is relatively expensive, requires mandatory reporting including providing some information you may, or may not, want to provide; your name and current employer for example. They want to know the source of the lead. This might worry some given the consequences.

The other doesn’t require mandatory reporting and is half the cost (my last test was I believe $130), however, some doctors/labs do everything in their power to not let you do anything other than the occupational test. There are ways around this, legal, but I won’t go into the details – think anonymous.

If you don’t have high lifestyle risks, before running down to have a test get informed. Take a few days to find and read about lead testing, read about mandatory reporting, read about what happens if you return a lead level anything much above the median let alone high. Assess your situation, risks, and then get tested.

Cheers,

Phred

[blackdragon]

Steve,

The company here in Vegas charges $80.00 for the test. Not sure about the occupational test.

[TBF]

I just got another lead test.

Lead = 1 , and my cholesterol has improved also.

Maybe I was completely wrong about the lead exposure from shooting indoors ?

Travis F.

[Chris Keen]

i had mine checked because i was feeling sluggish and had alot of joint pain. if you handle alot of lead bullets or shoot indoors you should have it checked often.

Dan, have you noticed a decrease in the joint pain and has your lead level come down?

I shoot at an indoor range weekly, and I tested at 44 this week. I have been living with joint pain in the fingers and wrists for over a year now .... I just thought I was gettting old! Sucks to have to shoot with pain in the fingers & hands, but now at least I know I can do something to relieve it. Hopefully.

Cant shoot indoors for 2-3 weeks, but I have since started doing EVERYTHING I can to reverse the lead in my body. D-LEAD Wipes, hand washing (lots), gloves while reloading, washing clothes seperately, taking a shower immediately, etc.

[UniqueTek]

Hi guys,

Here is the regimen I use to keep my blood lead level low. I wear gloves when I reload, sort brass, etc. Use nitrile golves as they are more durable and less likely to pinhole and let lead dust in. They are also more comfortable than vinyl gloves. I keep D-Wipe Towels on the reloading bench and wipe down all tools and the bench top after reloading. D-Wipes can also be used to wipe down a firearm after shooting ... it is safe to use on blued metal. My reloading bench is in the garage. Before entering the house, I wash my hands up to the elbows with D-Lead Abrasive Hand Soap, which I keep at the utility sink in the garage. Lastly, I kick off the old deck shoes I keep in the garage just for reloading and yard work. That way I don't track lead dust into the house. I also wear a mechanics apron when reloading and take that off and leave in the garage. It gets washed frequently using D-Lead Laundry detergent. If I'm sorting buckets of dirty brass, I wear some old clothes and everything gets laundered afterward. I never eat or drink at my reloading bench, and I don't smoke so that isn't a problem.

At the indoor range, I take D-Lead soap and wash up immediately after shooting. I also wear those old shoes so I'm not bringing home range residues on my shoes. Remember that every surface at an indoor range, including the retail area, will be contaminated with lead resudues carried off the range by customers and employees. So even that doorknob you touch on the way out is likely to have lead on it. Just before digging for your car keys, use a D-Wipe for a final clean up. My wife stashes a couple wipes in a zip-loc bag just for this purpose

At the outdoor range, where water isn't always readily available, I take D-Wipes. You can use them on your face too, so if it was a windy day and blowing gunsmoke back at you, it is a good practice.

When I really feel that I'm grungy from a day at the range, I'll shower up using D-Lead Whole Body Wash and Shower Gel.

A lead test kit is also great to have on hand so you can test to see of your lead cleanup practices are being effective.

If you have any questions regarding lead and lead decontamination practices, please feel free to call us (480-216-2041). UniqueTek carries the complete line of D-Lead products and we are a distributor to the shooting industry. Not all are products are currently posted on our web site (http://www.uniquetek.com) but you can call us to order anything from the full line of D-Lead products.

Best,

Lee