Wow, a lot of questions to answer...let me attempt to elaborate.
Just out of curiosity, how long have you been shooting during your lifetime?
Five years, but I exclusively shoot lead in autopistols and quite a bit of them at that.
By any chance do you cast your own bullets?
Yes, on the average of once a week, but it's usually 6-7 hours of casting/sizing.
How often do you shoot at an indoor range?
Not that often anymore, but I used to on a regular basis. I still hang out there at least a few nights a week.
Where you work, how much you shoot, do you reload, etc. How could you have been exposed to the lead? Its it just because you shoot often etc.
I work in an office setting, so no lead there. It's purely hobby (shooting) related. "Occupational hazard" is what the doc called it. I usually shoot about 700-2000 rounds per month depending upon available time. I do reload pistol and shotgun (lots of lead involved here) and I cast about once a week. I've never really got into the habit of washing my hands after playing with bullets. And...I smoke.
I am assuming I'm taking on lead from handling of bullets and breathing casting vapors. The way the doc explained it to me:
The scale of measurement is in micrograms.
Normal people my age (27) have about 20-25 mg.
People that work around lead, 25-30+ mg.
"While your lead is elevated, it's not really of significant concern yet," is what he told me.
If your lead gets up to 40-60 WITH SYMPTOMS (abdominal pain, nervous system probs, etc...) then medication would be a solution.
If you don't have any symptoms, 60-80 is where the concern becomes overwhelming.
He also said 120 mg is where the SHTF.
90-95% of absorbed/inhaled lead is filtered through kidneys and expelled through the body. Only 5% is pushed into bone structure for your life. But...if you're constantly high on the scale, 5% can add up over a lifetime of shooting/casting.
They want me back in a month for another test so we can start keeping track of my levels.
My immediate solutions are:
-latex gloves while sizing or reloading. (I considered latex during casting, but if for some reason hot lead gets on latex gloves which are on my hands...you see where I'm going here?)
-a significant increase in the frequency of handwashing
-dedicated reloading times and no smoking or eating during those time-periods
-reduction of time spent at indoor range, and no sweeping or cleaning up the place.
I'm not expecting any probs, but I'm going to do what I can to lower the amount I have so far. Should be interesting...:banghead:
Ed