Are you poisoned? The lead blood levels poll...

[Chainsaw.]

My Wife is an environmental scientist (save it) and worked for the EPA for 13 years as an investigator (again, save it), when Instarted casting she had a hard time with it. I being the newbie to the conversation had to do alot of reading, or what the kids these days call “research”. Of course I found the usual answers that you all know, IE we are not smelting, we are simply melting, there is no ore involved, midigate fumes, wash up etc etc. She was still not thrilled, started to get tested by the Quack, first two years were 3 and 4 dm, had one year I was being a little sloppy, digging in berms etc, it went up to 7, has dropped back down. Meanwhile my Wife has been mostly placated. I really think they focus so much on the horrors of lead in colleges that the students have a hard time recognizing the boundies of common sense. Its like anything, midigate risk. Vent the fumes, wash yer mitts, clean up etc etc. Kinda like riding a motorcycle, be smart. That being said if kids are around you really should be extra diligent about clean up and keeping them away, Ive seen what lead can do to little growing brains and its nothing anyone wants to see a child deal with.

Be smart and cast on.

[Wag]

I really think they focus so much on the horrors of lead in colleges that the students have a hard time recognizing the boundies of common sense.

Lead poisoning IS horrifying, however, the reality of actually being poisoned requires specific conditions. Lead paint was a condition that caused lead poisoning in kids many years ago but now that we know about it, we have gotten it under control. Lead wheel weights and lead shot, however, do not cause lead poisoning and the only reason they're on anyone's radar is because of misguided fear.

Be smart and cast on.

Absolutely.

--Wag--

[Chainsaw.]

Yes. Better stated than I said.

[RogerDat]

I dropped steadily once I started being more careful of the dust in spent brass. Digging through buckets of brass and the vibrating polisher were the culprits. Better protection while doing brass sorting and a splash of mineral spirits plus some nufinish polish run for 5 minutes in the dry media before polishing cut way down on the dust. I also added a box of nitrile gloves in the garage work area and the basement loading bench area so gloves are always available and used.

When I was up around 10 (now down around 5) the specialist said he would only be concerned by that level if I was a young child OR there was no idea where lead level was coming from. He said as long as I got annual testing with my physical in order to catch if some part of my process starts elevating lead level I should be fine. I looked down and realized I had a small lead splat on my boot and acknowledged not much doubt about where it was coming from.

Pets are the other concern. I keep the dogs away from where I cast in the garage. They pick it up on their fur and they will lick it off, or track it on their paws to where they sleep and then lay in it which then gets licked off. I'm pretty sure there is some advantage to not using lead shot on water fowl. There is less habitat and the waterfowl having less room to spread out may well tend to concentrate hunting and spent shot into a smaller area. Using non-lead shot seems a fairly inexpensive insurance policy on continued health of water fowl and uncontaminated habitat. That said given a choice between using bathroom cleaner in a room without windows and just an exhaust fan or casting all day in the garage I know which I think is more likely to cause me harm. One makes my eyes burn, one doesn't. Hmmm.

[Jeffrey]

I clean and ingotize scrap lead, cast boolits in my garage. No special exhaust hood, just a decent fan in the ten foot wide door, roof peak has passive vent. Fan is on the deck outside the door, blowing into the garage. Very recently had blood work for metals: all good. If greater precautions than mine make a person feel better, good for them, but no one is going to convince me they are necessary.

[dbosman]

When rendering scrap into ingots or casting, I use an eight foot long table. Coleman gas stove at one end and a 20" box fan at the other end. Lee 20 pot to the right of center. That table is near the garage entrance. The fan blows across the pot and across the stove. It doesn't significantly cool anything. No respirator, no dust mask. I do wear leather gloves. I've worn glasses for 55 years so those keep my eyes safe.
I got my lead result yesterday. <1. Apparently my set up is working for me.

[2A-Jay]

I worked as a Micro-miniature electronics component repair tech in the Navy for 10 years, had a lead tinning Pot (10 pound lead furnace on my work bench that was used every work day of that 10 years. I have to have a Lead Screening every year never had a measurable Lead level. My Last physical showed no measurable lead. but I have not been casting or smelting more that about 3 years and not in a really huge quantity at that.

[dbosman]

The thought of a 10 lb tinning pot on a workbench on a ship doesn't strike me as something I could relax and work around.

[2A-Jay]

The thought of a 10 lb tinning pot on a workbench on a ship doesn't strike me as something I could relax and work around.

When you are on Shore Duty the station does not rock and roll very much file:///C:/Users/Jay/Desktop/trainwreck.gif

[quilbilly]

I have been pouring lead into molds for fishing jigs for my business for now 42 years. I still have all my teeth, my gums are OK, and my annual checkups at the doctor including blood tests are fine. I am even marginally sane. I tell people to wash their hands before eating a sandwich, ALWAYS, and pour under cover but outdoors.

[johnsonian09]

I work with lead paint and have the EPA's RRP liscence yadda yadda.
I also shoot, cast,reload, fish, hunt, etc.

I really got into these hobbies about 4 years ago.

Also started this job 4 years ago.

Part of the hiring process was getting a BLL to set a base line. I tested at 2p /dl

The test is 40$ on
https://www.walkinlab.com/products/view/lead-blood-test

4 years later following RRP safety guidelines my lead level is 22p/dl

Test case 1

My 30year old co worker who is a loveable idiot jumped from 10 to 70 in 6 months.
Want to know how this happens? He rolls his own loose tobacco cigarettes inside the hot zone. Blows the smoke out the vent but it's all contaminated. And burning lead fumes are a great way to get a good healthy dose straight to the brain.

Osha's limit is 40 before they remove you from work. He got put on paintbrush/floor sweep duty for 8 months and he's down to 35. And can work again.

If you worry or your wife worries about your health get tested. Order it online or ask your doctor. It's easy. This guy was an idiot before he started. So at 70 he still had no symptoms of poisoning.

The problem is with kids. Lead stops yer brain from growing right by impeding neural pathways and all that. If your kid tests over 5 it's a problem.

Test case 2

My other coworker is 55. Started this job when he was 17 before the epa came up with all the lead regulations. At his highest he tested 45. But you know what's funny.. is he acts like a teenager. And an immature one at that. Me thinks he got leaded up at just the right time in brain development.


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[AndyC]

Had my lead levels checked in 2013 - results were 3.3 then, and I did a lot of shooting and casting. I'll need to get tested again sometime.

[Plate plinker]

I was a little high in the lead department a year ago, but back to normal now. I fairly certain i inhaled dust from the tumbler as my source of contamination. I now tumble outside.

[Conditor22]

↑↑↑▲▲▲That's why I switched to wet tumbling▲▲▲↑↑↑

the next worse offender is de-priming

[15meter]

It took 3 years to get tested through my doctor, she kept insisting that a lead test was a urine test.

She would order the test, the lab would ignore it but apparently not tell her.

Finally convinced her to order a lead blood test.

Lab did it. Came back at 15.

I would guess depriming and dry polishing are the culprits.

Ingot making is always done outside with a breeze blowing and casting is done inside with a hood <3" above the pot and exhausting the fumes out of the shop.

Time to rethink the depriming and the polishing hygiene.

Do that for a year and get retested.

As near as I can tell, a 15 is a level to be concerned about, but not go into panic mode at 66 years old.

[clarksvillejoe]

Cleaning range brass and depriming. I set up in garage with fan behind me blowing to the outside. No kids, wife or dog allowed near.

[imashooter2]

It took 3 years to get tested through my doctor, she kept insisting that a lead test was a urine test.

She would order the test, the lab would ignore it but apparently not tell her.

Finally convinced her to order a lead blood test.

Lab did it. Came back at 15.

I would guess depriming and dry polishing are the culprits.

Ingot making is always done outside with a breeze blowing and casting is done inside with a hood <3" above the pot and exhausting the fumes out of the shop.

Time to rethink the depriming and the polishing hygiene.

Do that for a year and get retested.

As near as I can tell, a 15 is a level to be concerned about, but not go into panic mode at 66 years old.

As lead levels in the general population fall, doctors continue to lower the normal range. 15 is nothing to be even remotely concerned about.

[GregLaROCHE]

I was once in the +45 category after sweeping up some lead from an indoor range floor. Six months later, I was a lot lower. The body can cleanse itself. I’m now what they consider normal for someone who works in an industry involving lead. Is casting boolits considered an industry?

[imashooter2]

The old OSHA regulation was that a worker had to be removed from exposure at 40. Not sure now.

[Hanzy4200]

I m only 36 and have been casting for about 10 years. I've yet to get tested, though I probably should. On this note, a friend pulled out a bottle of "Lead Free" wet wipes the other day. For removal of heavy metals from hands. I don't recall the actual brand name. Anyone else use these?