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

[Taylor]

I don't have a basement or a parrot,no worries.

[shotstring]

During the early 80's my partner and I had an ammunition shop the sold reloaded 38/357 rounds primarily but other calibers as well. We featured hand cast H & G bullets in all our 38/357's and cost only around $3.00 for 50 rds w/brass exchange. We sold tens of thousands in the Los Angeles area, but my partner did test positive for lead poisoning-severe muscle/skin pain and headaches. But he had aquired it before we ever set up shop by doing everything wrong and spending hundreds of hours in unventilated shooting ranges. There are so many other ways to get lead poisoning other than casting - used to eat ducks and pheasant all year long in S.D., and remember spitting out lead shot every 4th bite or so....and those wild birds carried lead shot around with them for years...and I have never tested positive for lead poisoning. I DO live with a parrot and a lovebird, but I don't cast in the house and am careful to wash my hands before handling the birds.

[Steelbanger]

I voted earlier as having no symptoms after casting for almost 40 years. The first years casting were with no concern for my own safety regarding ventilation etc. but for many years now I take precautions and try to be careful.
This week I had my annual physical and explained to my Dr. that I was a hobbyist bullet caster and have been working with lead alloys for many years and wondered if he thought I should be checked for heavy metals. He said I certainly should so now I await the results, which should come late next week. I was expecting to have blood drawn but a 24 hour urine sample was also needed so I complied even though it was a royal pain in the butt considering that the sample had to be refrigerated while I kept adding to the contents of the lab jug.
When I get my lead level results I'll let you folks here know the outcome. The good news from my exam is that I still am able to get through life with no drugs, unless you consider an occasional glass of wine as a drug. I haven't even had an aspirin in over 15 years and possibly longer.

[Old Ironsights]

I've been around so much radiation I figure the only reason I'm not glowing is the Lead in my system.

[ReAX222]

I haven't been tested, but I have only been casting a few weeks, and before that I only handled lead for diving purposes or to help my dad with projects. I have issue from an accident and everyone on my dad's side ends up with dementia, so I should never if the lead causes any harm.

[Sundogg1911]

I really think that if you use some common sense you'll be fine. Cast with good ventilation. wash your hands often. Don't smoke, snack or eat while casting. You you are drinking a beverage while casting, keep it away from the pot. don't touch the part of the glass that touches your mouth. I usually keep my beverage in a cabinet in the oppisite side of the garage with the door shut and I always cast with an exhaust fan (Range hood) when casting indoors.

[Steelbanger]

Good news for me. Doctors office called and left a message that my lead levels are within normal range. I suppose I could call and get the specific number but don't think that is necessary. So at almost 67 years old I am not going to have it checked again. PSA was good too. Next appointment Aug, 2008. I hope I'm still around to make that one.

[BD]

I got my test results back in October. Despite not doing much of any casting for the past year and a half, and taking all of my usual precautions in regard to tumbling and reloading, my lead levels went from 8 to 14 in a year. The culprit? A year of shooting once or twice a week at an indoor range. And this is a new "Five Star" rated range with the latest in AC and filtration systems. More evidence that it's not casting boolits that should concern us, but rather shooting indoors.
BD

[wolfspotter]

I was tested a few months ago because I have have symptoms but all my doctor said was the level was elevated but still in a safe range. My symptoms may be the result of very high levels I had 90s and was never treated. Worked in a brass foundry running a large wheelabrator which blasts the brass fittings with steel shot. Also ground the fittings as peicework. Of coarse working third shift when no bosses were around, we didn't bother wearing our dust masks and smoked freely while working. I've changed my ways when casting bullets.

[floodgate]

This was mentioned here several months ago and I got one of their D-LEAD "sampler" kits with spray testers for the presence of lead, cleanup solutions and wipes, and now use it regularly. Goggle up "Esca -Tech" and look it over. Maybe some "hype" here, but makes a lot of sense.

floodgate

[snuffy]

Mines at 5.0. Time to bump this to the top. We do need to be careful, but the paranoia is unfounded. hygiene is the answer, never forget to wash well after casting or loading lead boolits.

[klw]

I get tested every six or so months. The highest value I've ever had was 28. The lowest was 17. My lead level started climbing this year. First time in years. When it got to 25 I stopped bullet casting. When it got to 28 I stopped shooting. Six weeks after I stopped shooting it had dropped to 17. I think that the problem wasn't all my casting but rather my shooting.

The one odd thing about this year's shooting was that I was using an old 1891 Mauser that didn't seal up particularly well. Got a small bit of blowback in the face every shot. Shop shooting that gun and the problem literally went away.

For blood levels below 40 or so, stopping the exposure should not only stop the rise in blood lead levels but should actually cause it to drop. In my experience the drop can be pretty quick.

[JohnSmiles]

Yeah, my other 1/2 and her sister and both their daughters . . . just KNOW I have lead poisoning because I touch the stuff with my bare hands.


(Lord only knows what they would say if they knew I had handled mercury a few times)

Wash your hands well after playing.
Lava is a great choice.
Nuff said.

[Ranch Dog]

I didn't respond to the survey above because my quarterly blood test reports in "ug/dl" vs. the "mcl/dl" indicated above. The scale looks similar but I don't know if they are. My results sit around 2.8 ug/dl. I do a lot of casting and shooting.

[glenwood]

Just had my blood level checked two months ago because I was getting a little concerned. I cast bullets in the garage with the door open. Other than that no venilation. I breathe in fumes from the pot and I am not careful with the dust and debris from the casting and reloading. I wash my hands after casting and shooting. The test came back with a blood level of 5. For what it is worth I eat an orange for breakfast every morning.

[longbow]

I have already posted some of the following in another thread on this forum so you will have to excuse me for repeating - or not I guess.

Personally I think the best way to address the concern of "lead poisoning" is not by taking a poll to see what people think or what their blood lead levels are if they have been tested, but by providing information on how to avoid the issue all together by following a few simple guidelines which I posted in another thread but will repeat here.

To start, I work in a lead refinery that produces about 90,000 tons of lead a year so I am surrounded by lead every day. I have been a boolit caster since I was about 15 so that makes about 39 years. My blood lead level is 5 micrograms per deciliter.

I asked the nurses at work about vitamin therapies, supplements, chelation thereapy, etc. The answer was that there are no known or proven therapies of any sort that will lower blood lead levels over the long term - just time. Chelation therapy can lower blood lead levels for a short time then they rise back to where they were as the lead leaches out of your system. However, taking vitamins within reason is certainly not going to hurt so if it makes you feel better why not - and maybe orange juice does help a bit (especially in a screw driver).

The main sources of lead entry into the body are:

- Inhalation: of fume or dust (dross) so cast outside or with good ventilation, don't overheat the lead unnessecarily, don't melt it with direct hot flame (like burning off chunks with an oxy acetylene torch). Also as pointed out by others, indoor shooting could be a large contributor of fine lead dust and/or vapour exposure. Smoking while casting is particularly bad as the lead gets onto the cigarette from your hands then into your lungs.

- Ingestion: of metalic lead or oxides (dross) mainly from contamination on your hands so don't eat or smoke while you are casting and don't touch your face as what gets on your face will often find its way into your mouth (the nurses say we all do this far more than you would think). Again smoking is bad as you handle the cigarette then put it in your mouth.

Metallic lead cannot be absorbed through the skin.

Lead will gradually be excreted from your system over time. I work with a fellow who spent about 20 years working in the lead smelter and his blood lead level used to be over 80 but has dropped to mid 20's now. The current concern level is 35 micrograms per deciliter.

Lead absorption is reduced if you have a full stomach as someone else mentioned above so eat before casting and wash your hands well after casting.

So to summarize:

- Eat and drink before casting
- Cast outside or with good ventilation ~ so you are upwind
- Don't overheat the lead
- Don't smoke, eat or drink while casting (yes I often have a beer while casting - I just don't grab the drinking end with a lead covered hand)
- Avoid the dust and smoke when drossing/fluxing (that good ventilation thing again)
- Wash your hands right after casting
- And if you are really worried then wear coveralls or change clothes after casting and wash your face too
- Now, have a beer and all the junk food you want

Longbow

[Just Duke]

I started casting in 1977 with no protection. Went to the doc in 1989 because of swelling on both sides of my lower back. They ran a battery of insurance paid for test, and you know when the insurance co. is flippin the bill they will check you for anything and everthing. Went back to the Doc for my test results and he said "come-ear son", facing me he reaches around me and grabs the swelling parts and says. "boy those are love handles" you tested negative for any lead at all.
125 lbs of wheel weights a month for um-teen years for 9mm, 45, 44 mag gc and no lead in me. I have not casted for 12 years now but I will be back in full force stocking up on 500 S&W, 460 S&W and 45-70 bullets to last me and the wife a lifetime and then some.
I will be wearing a resperator and always eye protection this time around.

The guy at Discount Tire balancing tires is exposed to lead more than I am.


I have seen many a deer in my general vicinity die quicky and humanely from lead poisoning.



.

[PatMarlin]

I think there is far more exposer reloading, shooting, and case cleaning but another factor is the ceramic finishes on all the dishes and coffee cups from CHINA and other countries.

Have you had yours checked for lead?

[imashooter2]

I will be wearing a resperator and always eye protection this time around.

.

So you cast for years with no protection and tested negative, but now you're going to wear a respirator? Why?

[Just Duke]

No lead at all in my system .
I cast in my shop , I wear a respirator ,

Because he does.