Lead Poisoning --Valuable Health Information

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Going for a lead test on the 4th. Idiots at work are burning massive quantities of CDD caked in lead based paint. The fun never ends.
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What in Heavens name is CDD, I even googled it and got 55 answers, none being an item.
 
What in Heavens name is CDD, I even googled it and got 55 answers, none being an item.
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From the context, I'd say it is Construction Demolition Debris

I don't have any idea. I have an HMO with a $20 co-pay and had my tests done in conjunction with my annual physical, so I never saw any itemized bill. I doubt that it's very expensive compared to other types of testing, but with medical costs these days being what they are, who knows?
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I had one recently, added to a routine physical. Insurance didn't buy that it was part of the physical and applied the deductible to it (so I paid the full price.) It cost $100. It came back 17, so I'm taking lots of Vitamin C and cleaning up my lead exposure act a little, mostly regarding bullet casting and brass tumbling. I'll get another one in 6 to 9 months just to make sure it's going the right direction.
 
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I've been inspecting houses for lead based paint for over 10 years now. I'm glad to see this subject as a sticky. It takes a minimal amount to get lead poisoned. Lead gets into your system and takes the place of iron since your body doesn't know the difference between the two. Take in lots of calcium and iron to bring levels down.
 
For what it is worth the 2012 Gun Digest is suppose to have an article about elevated blood lead levels and how to minimize your exposure.
 
What is a coating that people who loadup their own rounds should use to prevent exposure? Something resistant to the heat after the weapon is fired?
 
A hazmet suit.

Seriously, enjoy you shooting activity and don't worry about it. Mankind has been shooting and handling lead for centuries and look where we are today compared to the middle ages.
 
The important thing is hygiene. While you are loading keep your fingers out of your nose, mouth and eyes. When you stop to do anything else wash your hands. And if you have open wounds on your hands cover the wounds before you start.
 
Thank you!!!

I just started reloading a month or so ago and wish I had read this thread before I even began. It's made me paranoid, in a good way, about handling anything in reloading that might contain lead.

I just went down to my loading area and thoroughly cleaned out my vibratory brass cleaner and brass sorter and threw away the used media and rags used to clean up. I never de-capped the brass before cleaning. I also tossed out all de-capped primers. Finally used some de-leading soap on my hands when I was finished.

I have a vent down there that I used to use when painting small car parts. I'm going to leave that on whenever I'm down there reloading now. I use FMJ only and never even considered making my own lead rounds due to concerns about lead. And here I am still exposing myself to it out of ignorance. Luckily whenever I sorted the brass out of the cleaner I always wore a mask... still...

Thank you all once again...

-Gil


Is there anything else I can do in order to limit my exposure?
 
Thank you all once again...

-Gil


Is there anything else I can do in order to limit my exposure?
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Sooooooooo you ignored all the people, like me, that routinely handle, cast, and load lead bullets without getting high lead-blood-levels? And believed all the panty waists that believe the EPA chicken-little's about lead danger?

What can you do to eliminate your exposure? STOP BREATHING!

I'm NOT saying what you're doing is wrong, it's a good idea. Especially to guard against the lead styphonate in the spent primers. BUT that lead salt,(styphonate), isn't going to attack you as you walk by. Could it get on your shoes, thus contaminate your floors where a baby might crawl? Certainly! Pregnant women and babies are at the most risk. If I had a young family, I would be very careful.

Rant on-

Just don't believe the hype that's going on right now. Have you heard the TV and radio commercials about lead paint. I want to strangle the announcer every time I hear one. They sound like that paint is alive with malicious intent to attack our kids. THEY HAVE TO CHEW ON IT TO GET POISONED! They conveniently fail to tell you that! Do you sense a conspiracy here?

Rant off, sorry, had to vent.
 
no probs... Always good to hear both sides of this type of discussion. I don't have a young family, but my grandkids are over here a lot. And they're always on the rug. I'm going to leave a second pair of shoes down at the reloading room. Just in case that styphonate hops a ride...
 
Lead posioning mostly comes from shooting cast bullets, not making them. Shooting cast pistol bullets is only a problem if you approach 6000 rounds a month but it does not take much to get you in trouble with cast rifle bullets. The 2012 Gun Digest will have an article explaining all this. There are lots of graphs of bullet casting, cast bullet shooting and medical lead level tests.
 
Thats it!
Lead in primers, my Dr. Dr. Bones said the same thing after I got a high rating. It's not the casting, smelting, or reloading. It's the lead in primers. Go to a good indoor range with fans. And wash your hands. Also I get soap from Dillon Precision to remove heavy metals.

Max
 
Metallic lead is actually rather hard to absorb.

Bullets are not removed from shooting victims all the time, and they show no increase in lead levels.

When lead styphnate burns/explodes it is very hot and results in a witches brew of soluble lead compounds.
These CAN be absorbed by breathing or ingesting (eating them).
Being soluble they easily move into the body fluids, allowing the lead to be taken up.

Washing works.
Wash your hands after shooting and before eating or smoking.

One way you CAN make metallic lead a problem is by having it on your hands and then transferring it to a cigarette.
Smoke the cigarette and breath the vaporized lead.
Lick you fingers.

Wash your hands and you will not have any problem.

Casting does not make enough lead vapor to matter, though using a torch to speed melting WILL release lead vapor.

Flame temperature are WAY higher than the melting temperature used for casting.

Lead boils (vaporizes) at 3,180 F, well within most torch flame temperatures.

Casting is usually below 750F (tin can separate out if you go much higher) and lead melts at 621 F.

There is a lot of room between melting and boiling.

That does not mean no vapor is produced until boiling, just not very much at casting temperatures.
 
I am a newbie and have a question concerning lead posioning and primers. I want to start out loading with a Lee Classic loader (uses a rubber mallet instead instead of press) that I got for $8 at a pawn shop (no funds for a press and like the idea of loading a few rounds real slow and learning the process)

Anyway after reading and watching youtubes of the Lee Loaders it looks like I should expect a primer to go off here and there. As a matter of fact I have loaded 12 dummy rounds without powder and have had 2 primers go off on me.

I will be loading in a bedroom my 14 year old son stays in about every other weekend. This bedroom is next to my 6 month old son's bedroom, and the living room him and my 3 year old girl play in every day.

I will not load while they are in the adjacent rooms, but I am concerned that the primers going off and the depriming (messy) will lead to lead poisoning risk. The dummy round I loaded while setting on the floor because it was more comfortable.

As a matter of fact I am worried that the 2 primers that went off already and the 500 or so round I have deprimed on the floor could already have caused a problem.

And to top it off I plan on loading lead cast bullets

Am I being too paranoid? I am not so much worried about me (I am a little) as I am for my children.

Any thoughts.
 
I wouldn't worry so much about 2 primers going off (other than the noise), but more about the spent primer dust from decapping. What are you doing to keep that from going all over the place.
 
I would definitely be concerned about the primer dust. Why not move that operation to another location "not the kitchen"? I deprime with a punch and rubber mallet, maybe not the fastest but to the best of my knowledge I'm not in a race. Just my 2 cents.
 
The Lead Issue

This is my first posting to this great forum... seems that everyone is well informed. I know of the lead issue..while most of what i shoot is outdoors, sometimes i am lazy and go to an indoor range. The issue is two fold. Yes, the primers are a real villian, and to a lesser degree soft lead bullets. Depending on your load and the vialbility of your gas check the round may exit the barell with a trail of vaporized lead from the base of the bullet. Double plated lead virtually eliminates it. As to primers, there are but a few. International Cartridge Company produces a full line of completly lead free ammo. From the Primer to the Copper/Tin projectile. I keep my defense weapons all loaded with this... its clean, and it has stopping power like you have never seen. VenturaMunitions.com is having a sale on it..I swear by it. Check the videos.
 
The Lead Issue

This is my first posting to this great forum... seems that everyone is well informed. I know of the lead issue..while most of what i shoot is outdoors, sometimes i am lazy and go to an indoor range. The issue is two fold. Yes, the primers are a real villian, and to a lesser degree soft lead bullets. Depending on your load and the vialbility of your gas check the round may exit the barell with a trail of vaporized lead from the base of the bullet. Double plated lead virtually eliminates it. As to primers, there are but a few. International Cartridge Company produces a full line of completly lead free ammo. From the Primer to the Copper/Tin projectile. I keep my defense weapons all loaded with this... its clean, and it has stopping power like you have never seen. VenturaMunitions.com is having a sale on it..I swear by it. Check the videos.
 
Lead / Health

I have noticed a lot of indoor ranges either are not knowledgeable or just pump a crazy amount of air into the shooting stall to "solve" the exposure issue.

the reality is that a floor to ceiling continuous air wall blowing +2,000 CFM's down range is needed. If you are indoors and don't see a plenum wall or radial diffusers you should ask the range supervisor how the air is being handled. just blowing high volumes without understanding the pattern of air will not solve the issue of exposure.

You can see some diffusers here: http://youtu.be/YiF3T1RIZ2w
 
I am OSHA ceritified and cannot get over all the fuss about lead. Most people should be more scared about filling their gas tanks than worrying about lead. I can't explain why some of you have increased amounts of lead in you bodies. I've been casting and shooting muzzleloading lead rated at .98% average for over 15 years and I'm tested every three years for lead and still have no problems. Lead oxide(lead rusty white powder) is the greatest conern because it can be absorbed easier than any other form of lead. I like Snuffy and Brickeyee comments. Don't eat or smoke in the presence of lead. Cast and Shoot in a ventilated area. Wash your hands before and after. Change your clothes after casting. Lee Precison makes Liquid Alox that can reduce barrel leading from cast bullets and it makes them easier to load. Bullets tend not to lead when shot under 1,000 fps. Lead is used in lots of places people don't even think of, like a color perservative in window blinds. Foreign countries like China use lead in a lot of products that we don't in the U.S. And look at all the stuff we buy from them. None of this is rocket surgery, just common sense.
 
I posted sometime ago that I had evelvated lead levels from shooting indoors. I approached the range owner with this problem and he was nice but insisted it wasn't his problem as he was changing the filters every 6 months and these were $5k filters I even felt bad saying anything and felt like and idiot. I do not cast my own bullets but I have been reloading for about 18 years and just recently started getting tested. Mine was really really high. I started taking vitamin 1000mg of vitamin C a day as well as a tums every day in the morning. Within a couple of weeks my lead levels were way down but not normal. From day 1 my father taught me to reload and was very stern that when I do any cleaning of brass at all or handling spent primers I wear a respirator and I always have yet my lead level were so high. So to me I could only be getting the lead from one place, I even wear nitrile gloves when reloading. My wife has actually stated many of times she would just rather I buy the ammo because I am not saving much with always buying filters and keeping gloves as well as large alcohol pads for wiping down my bench. But it is not about the cost it is about my love for reloading and the stress relief I get because when I get in that world I don't allow anything to get in the way of it. Long story short people look at me like I am crazy but I started taking my respirator to the range with me and wearing it. I asked the range owner and he was very hesitant but said ok. My lead levels has gone down drastically and it hasn't been that long. I just continue taking the vitamin C and tums daily as well. What I will say about the range is this -- since opening he has a binder with all of his yearly certification documents that he leaves on the counter for anyone to look through so he is surely legal but is that enough? The other thing is I know the NRA help design this range to the point where the backstops are so strong there has been full machine gun shoots held here and he maintains them. My question is, Is all of this enough he is doing to keep our lead levels where they should be? I decided I have some ownership in this also as it was not all the range owners responsibility and started wearing my respirator.
 
Don't take the Vitamin C and the Tums at the same time. (I drink milk in the mornings and take Vitamin C at night, or sometimes vice versa) I've thought about a respirator at the indoor range, but want to get my blood tested again before I mess with that. Hopefully taking Vitamin C and being extra careful to make sure I wash my hands and blow my nose when I leave the range is enough.
 
I posted sometime ago that I had evelvated lead levels from shooting indoors. I approached the range owner with this problem and he was
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I have some ownership in this also as it was not all the range owners responsibility and started wearing my respirator.
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Wow, 32 lines without a paragraph break!
 
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