Palladan44
Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2020
- Messages
- 1,904
Anyone ever wonder if their reloading hobby exposes them to harmful substances?
I know enough about HazMat stuff from my profession to know that there is more to it than just the short term. I know a few exposures to any given substance are tolerable.....but how about repeated exposures over long periods of time? These are the ones that are more difficult to study, more difficult to prove and thus can't prove the existence of an exposure.
I wonder about specific substances and what hazards they could pose.
1) Lead (I limit my lots of cast lead loading to one larger batch at a time, then clean the equipment to limit lead exposure) I load plated bullets for the bulk of my semi-auto training rounds, which I load on a weekly basis. Again, this is what I do because it makes me more comfortable.
2) Powder dust- I notice this makes it way around after loading a few hundred rounds, light dust or static cling attaches itself to funnel, and at base of the shellplate. I clean this up periodically
3) Primer dust- Both from spent primers and new primers- I wipe out primer flip tray once every month or so..primer dust slowly accumulates in here. I clean out spent primer cup on my 550B every time I load.
4) Case tumbling- I now have a friend with a wet tumbler handle this in large batches, and I also buy 9mm, 38/357 and 10mm brass from him already deprimed and cleaned in large lots which eliminates some dirty work. Having a dry tumbler adjacent to my reloading area was a fairly dirty task.
Ventilation is something that is fairly difficult to achieve in a basement. I know that it's advised to load in a "well ventilated" area. This probably means that air that is slightly moving is better than still air....I will admit I probably don't load In a "well ventilated" area...
Any insight appreciated.
Any illnesses reported from exposures to handloading or factory workers loading ammunition?
I know enough about HazMat stuff from my profession to know that there is more to it than just the short term. I know a few exposures to any given substance are tolerable.....but how about repeated exposures over long periods of time? These are the ones that are more difficult to study, more difficult to prove and thus can't prove the existence of an exposure.
I wonder about specific substances and what hazards they could pose.
1) Lead (I limit my lots of cast lead loading to one larger batch at a time, then clean the equipment to limit lead exposure) I load plated bullets for the bulk of my semi-auto training rounds, which I load on a weekly basis. Again, this is what I do because it makes me more comfortable.
2) Powder dust- I notice this makes it way around after loading a few hundred rounds, light dust or static cling attaches itself to funnel, and at base of the shellplate. I clean this up periodically
3) Primer dust- Both from spent primers and new primers- I wipe out primer flip tray once every month or so..primer dust slowly accumulates in here. I clean out spent primer cup on my 550B every time I load.
4) Case tumbling- I now have a friend with a wet tumbler handle this in large batches, and I also buy 9mm, 38/357 and 10mm brass from him already deprimed and cleaned in large lots which eliminates some dirty work. Having a dry tumbler adjacent to my reloading area was a fairly dirty task.
Ventilation is something that is fairly difficult to achieve in a basement. I know that it's advised to load in a "well ventilated" area. This probably means that air that is slightly moving is better than still air....I will admit I probably don't load In a "well ventilated" area...
Any insight appreciated.
Any illnesses reported from exposures to handloading or factory workers loading ammunition?