Managing and tracking blood lead levels

[Dessert_Eagle]

I?ve been shooting for about 10 years. Weekly shooting for about 3 years once I joined a gun club and about half the time black powder since COVID. N-SSA member for 1 year. Looking at the calendar, I last casted in March, April, and May. Since Spring nationals, I?ve shot maybe 300 rounds of birdshot and 200 rounds from a flintlock outside. About every week I spend 6 hours at an outdoor firing range. After every shoot, I?ve used delead soaps, wipes, etc. After casting I do the same, change clothes in addition and shower with special soaps on casting days. I don?t change my clothes typically after range visits. I typically wear whatever to the range and don?t keep track given im out every weekend.

Got my lead levels checked for the first time in late August and the level was 5.0ug/ml.

I?m retracing steps wondering what has driven it well above the threadshold of 3.5ug/ml that doctors want. Give a blood half life for lead of 1 month, tissue of 1.5 months, and bone 25 years, I wonder how much could be driven by the summer flintlock shooting, carry over from smelting, etc. that?s in the blood vs longer accumulation.

Anyone ever track their levels closely? Per the study below, it appears shooting jacketed rounds / lead free primers have half the lead exposure, so want to be more hygienic and get the levels to appropriate ranges while still shooting without disruption.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/get_the_lead_out/pdfs/health/Gulson_et_al_2002.pdf

Obviously want to improve my habits given I?m in my 20s and need to least keep the accumulation on track for another 50-60 years. Any advice on good practices? Seems like delead wipes and outdoor shooting isn?t enough.

Thanks!

[clowdis]

MANY years ago they did some mass testing for lead in N-SSA shooters. You had to drop by and give them some blood and they'd give you a report the next day. Long story short, there was very little to no high lead levels in the blood of skirmishers. I'd check for other sources outside of my shooting. Also get a history if you can to see if this is a recent thing or if you have had it since childhood.

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello, Desert_Eagle:

I have been casting, handling and shooting lead for 60 years with no elevated levels in testing panels related to other ailments. A friend that shot with me did have elevated levels because he also shot at least 100 cast bullets indoors three times a week in NRA leagues. He became suspicious when a frying hamburger taste was continually in his senses. His was medically treated and he lived a long life.

My question, please, is what symptom, if any, prompted you to be tested?
Thanks.
Kevin Tinny

[Dessert_Eagle]

No symptoms. I just heard it as a suggestion and a way to be vigilant and ensure no issues arise later. Came in above range which really surprised me. Didn?t grow up in any homes with lead, parents never shot or worked with lead, grew up within miles of the Pentagon, so doubt the tap water was bad, delead / wash hands every time I shoot without eating or drinking during. Havent shot indoors for five years. I don?t smoke so none of that at the range.

I think the only things I could do differently is change clothes immediately after shooting, not smelt at all (would still like to), and shoot proportionately more jacketed bullets.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Dessert
PM sent

[Harry Gaul]

I have my blood tested every two years, and this is the first time my lead levels were above the recommend levels and set off an alarm with my doctor. Previous blood work for lead came back below normal and no red flags for the doctor. For background, I have been hunting and shooting since I was 12. I have eaten lead shot as a kid because it was in the meat I was eating. I have been a skirmisher for 43 years and pour my lead bullets in a well ventilated green house/man cave. No ill effects yet. According to Google, 40 ug/dl is the magic number when a person should see ill effects from lead poisoning. If you live in a house older than 1974, you probably have lead paint on your walls. Children eating lead paint chips especially in urban areas are on constant alert for lead poisoning. Former distant family member, their child was diagnosed with lead poisoning. They live in an old New England home with lead water pipes. Here in Lancaster County, lead levels among the community is high because the lead solder joints in the house water pipes. Hoping for the best.

Fast Forward to this winter when I pour lead for skirmishing, I am going to buy and wear an aspirator or a surgical mask while pouring.

Harry in Pa.
Forney's
03626v

[Maillemaker]

I've been casting bullets since around 2010, I think.

I have gotten my lead levels checked every year as part of my annual physical. I don't remember the numbers but they have never been an issue.

You pretty much have to eat lead to get lead poisoning. While there is always some vapor when dealing with liquid stuff (including liquid lead), the amount of lead vapor should be small. But still it is a good idea to do this in a place with good ventilation. I cast in my garage in front of an open window with a box fan sucking the air outwards.

You should never eat, drink, or smoke during or after handling lead, and after handling lead you should wash your hands well with detergent.

[bobanderson]

Consider this hearsay, or urban legend, or whatever.

I was told that exposure to lead is not harmful until you heat it to over 1000 degrees. I cast minies from pure lead in a Dutch oven on a camp stove adapted to propane. I use a casting thermometer and run the pot at 700 degrees Fahrenheit. I set up a range hood over the pot and vent it outside.
I have a Master Caster I use to make hard bullets for my breechloaders. I run that at 700 also.
I used to have my lead levels tested during my annual physical and they were never a concern. Stopped doing it because I had to pay extra for the tests.

What I won't do is bite a minie from a tube to pour a powder charge. That strikes me as pure foolishness.

[John Holland]

Blair Clowdis referred to a "Lead 'test" held at one of the Nationals many years ago. I was there with my girlfriend, now wife, and we both took the test. I was about 20 years old and had been casting lead since I was 8 years old. My girlfriend had never been exposed to molten lead or lead in any form. Her lead numbers were about double mine so we asked the people doing the testing how that could be. They said that some people just have a naturally higher lead count than others.

[John Bly]

I had my lead level checked several years ago. The Dr asked why I wanted it and I told him I had been casting lead bullets for over 30 years and I told him how we pull bullets with our teeth at the skirmish. I told him that I had read that the symptoms of lead poisoning are the same as getting old - irritability, loss of memory and diarrhea. He didn't give me the numbers but said I was just getting old.

[Maillemaker]

Blair Clowdis referred to a "Lead 'test" held at one of the Nationals many years ago. I was there with my girlfriend, now wife, and we both took the test. I was about 20 years old and had been casting lead since I was 8 years old. My girlfriend had never been exposed to molten lead or lead in any form. Her lead numbers were about double mine so we asked the people doing the testing how that could be. They said that some people just have a naturally higher lead count than others.

I don't know that there is any "natural" amount of lead you'd have in you, but lead was not removed from gasoline until 1996. Lead was banned from residential paint in 1978. Many people have hypothesized that the crime wave in the 1990s was a result of lead in paint and gasoline. Depending on where you grew up you could have been exposed to lead growing up.

[PoorJack]

I don't know that there is any "natural" amount of lead you'd have in you, but lead was not removed from gasoline until 1996. Lead was banned from residential paint in 1978. Many people have hypothesized that the crime wave in the 1990s was a result of lead in paint and gasoline. Depending on where you grew up you could have been exposed to lead growing up.

While lead was removed from gasoline, the lead in paint is still an ongoing issue. Any residential structure built before 1980 can absolutely have lead paint. If there's any renovations going on, it gets released to the environment. Even so, it's not the toxic problem you'd think unless you were involved in daily renovations involving dust or paint scraping or eating paint chips.

[RaccoonRough]

Fast Forward to this winter when I pour lead for skirmishing, I am going to buy and wear an aspirator or a surgical mask while pouring.

Harry in Pa.
Forney's
03626v

If your going to research it and determine what sort of mask works best for standing over a lead pot, would you please let me know as well. I cast during the winter and might just take some precautions as well.

Thanks