Sweet taste

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dcal

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I shot at an indoor range a couple weeks ago for the first time. I had noticed a sweet taste in the back of my throat, and I read somewhere that this is a sign of lead exposure. Is there any truth to that? I was thinking it was just vapor from the gun powder (which probably isn't good for me anyway).

In general I prefer to shoot at an outdoor range, but there are a few indoor ranges that are considerably closer that I will shoot at for convenience. So aside from finding an indoor range with really good ventilation, are there any other thoughts on the matter?
 
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Don't think a day at the range means you have lead poisoning. Just don't see it. Lead has a sweet taste to babies/children in lead based paint but don't think it leaves a sweet taste in adults mouths just by inhalation. Just my opinion.

The Dove
 
Lead poisoning comes from prolonged exposure. One day at the range wouldn't be enough.

On the other hand, that is one of the reasons I prefer to shoot outside.
 
Let me clarify here, as I think I phrased it wrong. Rather than lead poisoning, let's say lead exposure.

What I'm gleaning from your responses is that the sweet taste is lead, and while this one time isn't an issue, frequent visits to an indoor range, like the one I was at, will become an issue.

So same questions, but replace poisoning with exposure.
 
You will have lead exposure any time you go shooting.
You touch the bullets you have lead exposure.
A certain ammount is normal in life!
 
Yes, It's Lead!

Many years ago I used to shoot on an indoor range and I kick myself for failing to recgonize that the sweet taste in my throat on the drives home was lead. It took me many years to get my lead levels back down to an acceptable range.

It is believed that the sweet taste of lead is one of the things that leads young children to eat chips of lead-based paints in old homes.

While swallowing a lead bullet would result in very little absorption, inhalation of the very fine particles from the lead mists formed during shooting is a different story. Those particles have a much greater ratio of surface area to mass and can dissolve in acid, once the mucus that has trapped them ends up in the stomach, leading to absorption.
 
spwenger, did you notice any symptoms of lead poisoning?

The 25yd indoor range I used to go to about 4 times a week for a few months rented full-autos and at the time it was pretty popular.. Well, that place had no ventilation.. period, end of discussion and people shot for hours (including me). I couldn't leave there without dark yellow/green snot and an irritating and semi-candylike flavor in the back of my throat. Made it feel raw, and coated in chemicals.

I figured it was probably a really bad thing so I stopped going.
 
YES it is lead that you are tasting. Many indoor ranges are cheap and do not put in adequate ventilation or maintain it adequately. I am a member at three outdoor ranges, and if I need to go to an indoor range (say with friends who cant go outdoors due to medical reasons), then I bring an OSHA respirator mask or even a simple surgical mask from 3M.

Folks will try to tell you to stop being a p**** but don't listen to them - they aren't going to pay your medical bills and probaby laugh at you if you get LP. Some may also try to tell you that the mask won't cut it, and that you have to have a full body NBC suit; that is also bull.

Wear the mask, look a bit like a paranoid scaredy cat, but you won't even go home hacking and spitting that golden taste of toxic metal that cannot be naturally eliminated out of yoru body (EVER).
 
That sweet taste is indeed lead. In Roman Empire days, they actually used lead to sweeten wine by cooking lead and vinegar and then mixing it into their wine. And that same sweetness, as others have pointed out, is why it's so dangerous to children (in addition to the fact that their organs are still developing). Lead poisoning leads to major neurological damage, and you should do smart things to protect yourself.

JOsh
 
Shoot indoors 4 times a month, never had the sweet taste. Maybe you're sensitive to lead?

The exposure from shooting is probably minimal, especially if you shoot FMJs indoors.
 
I clean indoor ranges, and can't say as I've ever tasted any sweet sensation from lead. Strange...
 
Bobby, I think in a well ventilated indoor range this isn't a problem. I'm pretty sure the range I visited wasn't.
 
It would not suprise me if some people are much more sensitive to it than others, much like artificial sweeteners. Many people cannot tell the difference, but some can, and they usually cannot stand the taste of the artificial stuff. I personally can taste 5 different unmarked food items (cookies, tea, candy bars) and tell 99% of the time which has real sugar in it. I can't stand the fake stuff. If some people can tell the difference there, it stands to reason that some people can detect lead.
 
I posted about this a couple years ago. Yeah, its lead. The only indoor range in my area doesn't have ventilation that is worth a darn, so I don't go there anymore. When I read what actually is recommended to take lead out of the air, I was surprised - air forced through water, etc. So, I don't go to that range anymore. That has more to do with the outrageous range fees and the fact that I became a member at a local shooting club.

Unless you are shooting weekly, I don't know that I'd worry. If you were licking the walls, however. :D
 
My guess is the sweet taste is gunpowder residue.

Double-based gunpowders used in handgun and rifle ammunition contain nitroglycerin.

Nitroglycerin tastes sweet.

"Sweet" lead is lead salt, typically lead acetate. I'm not sure how metallic lead is going to get converted into lead acetate in the absence of vinegar or a similar compound.

If you have a powerful sweet taste in your mouth and/or are coughing up yellow-green snot you need better ventilation, that's for sure. I'd be worried about poisoning from gunpowder fumes and lead.

Good comment about using water to wash lead out of the air. You know how rain will wash dust & pollutants out of the air? Same thing.
 
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Ventilation

Some ranges have great ventilation. Some have lousy ventilation. I prefer well ventilated ranges.

There's a range I go to for classes where there may be 15 people shooting rapid fire in fairly close quarters. They require WinClean or other low-toxicity ammo for the classes.
 
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