Lead Exposure?

[Lee]

Short of snorting a $100 bill over a pot of boiling lead, I'm interested in thoughts about lead and lead exposure.
Now, if your lead is in a pot at 700-800 degrees, how much lead is being released into the air?? And released into the air over the pot, does it drop down out of the air? Stay in the air for a few minutes? Stay in the air forever? Further, would any type of filter remove the lead "fumes" or not?
I'm trying to grasp the mechanism of lead vapors poisoning........Lee:wink:

[Misfire99]

As I understand it the vapor layer is about one sixteenth of an inch above the surface of the melted lead in the pot. If the top of the pot is less then one sixteenth above the top of the melt then it will flow out but it goes down to the floor and spreads out.

And if you are going to snot something make it a NoDoze. You don't need a hundred dollar bill. A one will work just fine.

[FISH4BUGS]

Lead vaporizes at 1200 degrees. I cast in a closed area and have for years. My lead level in my blood is 8 and steady. That is low, and some have a higher level from their drinking water.
People ingest lead by handling it then eating or smoking, not by casting at 700 degrees. I am more concerned about the fumes from all the crap on the wheel weights when I smelt.

[jdhenry]

I am more concerned about the fumes from all the crap on the wheel weights when I smelt.


Couldn't have said it better myself:)

[AlaskaMike]

I had a smelting session where I got stupid and was sipping a cup of coffee, and shortly afterward my test came back at 19 mg/dl. My most recent test (where I've continued to cast and load, but not smelt, and not eat or drink while handling lead) came back at 5. There was about a years' time between the two tests.

I think drinking coffee (and yes, I knew better) was the main reason my first test came back as high as it did. But I also agree that smelting probably accounts for more exposure than normal casting.

Mike

[Pepe Ray]

There's no accounting for the trash found in your WW bucket. Could be deadly. Separate it. I'm not a chemist tho I'v worked with a few, but in all my years of working around a lead pot I've decided (for myself, YMMV) that the most dangerous part of this hobbie is the LEAD OXIDE. This is the white powder found on the surface of old ingots or boolets. Stick it up your nose or in your mouth, using any technique you choose, and it will show up in your blood tests.
Any one who casts at 1200*F is asking for and will get trouble.
Wash your hands, NOW!.
Pepe Ray

[38 Super Auto]

How are you guys testing your blood lead levels?

[MT Gianni]

Asking for a lead level test along with the others at the company mandated physical every 2 years works for me. Gianni

[corvette8n]

I asked my doctor to check the box at my yearly physical, on my blood work order looks like he has about 100 things he can test for, I had mine done for the first time last Feb and it came back normal.
I always smelt outdoors, but cast in the cellar, currently looking for an old range hood to mount over casting area.

[Sundogg1911]

I just have my doctor compare my levels with a chinese wal-mart toy [smilie=1:

[TAWILDCATT]

this question has been on the gunners web sites several times.
don't drink/ injest food or/ smoke, wash your hands after a session.change your clothes and dont put in wash with regular clothes.
I am 83 and have been casting since 1939.shooting indoors since 1969.stopped in 2000 because I moved south.also in yrs past washed parts in leaded gas which I believe was the worst.as my lead count went down after stopping.45/50 is when its getting bad.take zinc suppliments and iron.they displace the lead.
:coffe :Fire: :coffee:

[OBXPilgrim]

Thanks alot SD1911

It's been years since I've blown Mtn Dew through my nose!!

[FISH4BUGS]

How are you guys testing your blood lead levels?
I get an annual physical and a blood test is always done. Lead can be checked just like cholesterol. You just have to ask for it.
My doc of 30 years thought it was kind of interesting when I explained why I wanted a lead test. I explained the process - scrounging, smelting, alloying, casting, size and lube, reloading, shooting, and that it is a never ending cycle.
He still thinks I am crazy for shooting machine guns, but he will convert when I take him out shooting.