Lead exposure

[fatelk]

Every once in a great while I ask the doctor to add a lead test to my annual physical. I hadn't done it in a while, and it came back at 8 this year. He said that it's not a level to be terribly worried about, but it is indicative of exposure and I need to figure out what's causing it.

The thing is, I hadn't cast anything at all for months, at least half a year or more I think. I've given it a lot of thought and have come up with a couple ideas that seem like possibilities routes of exposure.

The first is regarding brass. When I get home from the range I put my brass (and any extra I pick up abandoned at the range) in a bucket and wash it with a little soap and Lemishine (citric acid). I've often handled it with bare hands. I wonder if the citric acid and tiny amount of residual lead could be absorbed into bare skin? I have and use d-lead soap, and have been much more careful about hygiene when handling lead in recent years, but hadn't thought about citric acid allowing skin absorption?

The second is my garage. In the past I've casted in the garage a fair amount. I don't cast a lot like some others here, just off and on occasionally. I would cast with the garage door open and a small fan running. I had also tumbled brass in vibratory tumblers in the past, before I went to wet tumbling. My thought is that there could have been a bit of dust in the garage that could have contained a trace of residual lead. In the couple weeks before my physical I did a major cleaning and rearranging in the garage, and installed a vent hood for casting. Perhaps I stirred up and breathed this dust?

[poppy42]

Most likely from the range itself if it’s a indoor range.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I did a major cleaning and rearranging in the garage, and installed a vent hood for casting. Perhaps I stirred up and breathed this dust?

From everything you said, this one would be at the top of the list, IHMO.
Besides the dust from dry vibratory tumbling from days gone past...do you store ingots in the garage? are any of them oxidized? did you handle them or move them or dust them off with compressed air? ....while cleaning your garage?

[JBinMN]

If I am not mistaken, the US CDC says any level less than 10 is average for US adults.

That may not lessen your concerns, but it reads as though you may have exposed yourself more than normal by your own description of your activities that may have caused an increase in your blood lead levels. If you have done anything like remodeling in a home that had lead paint, or been exposed to lead from fuels or the like that might cause an increase from what you normally have shown( since you said you have had tests before), that might also be taken into account. Also, if I am not mistaken, lead will accumulate in the body and much will be excreted thru urine & feces, but the lead that has accumulated in bone will stay with you. Continued exposure will cause lead continue to accumulate as you age & would depend on your exposure to how much you would accumulate. If & it probably is, the case, then you will continue to accumulate lead in your bones as long as there is exposure to it. How much of course, is determined ny what levels you allow yourself to be exposed & how your body deals with that exposure.

Reducing by preventing inhalation, ingestion & skin exposure when you know you are going to be around lead, particularly in casting, and washing up afterwards will certainly help keep accumulation to a lesser amount, but as you already are aware of that, it is up to you to decide what precautions you should take & how much you think is the necessary amount of precautions to take to prevent accumulation.

With all that, perhaps you should try to mentally ( or even write it down) the times you think you are exposed to keep a bit of a "log" of your exposure & then maybe increase your visits to have the lead checked in your blood to more than just once a year. If nothing else, it will help give you a bit of "peace of mind" if you find that the levels remain the same, rise only a small amount or perhaps even reduce if this last test was just a "spike" due to your cleaning of the garage & having a bit more exposure than you intended.

I am posting to "try" to help & not to harm or cause issue & I hope you and others will understand this. I am no MD, but am only trying to help you sort this thru & maybe help not only others, but myself, in knowing more about such things as folks reply to your OP on this subject.

I have not yet ever had a test for lead, but I think I may now, even though I have another health issue which concerns me much more than lead & will certainly take me out of the game of life before I need worry about my lead accumulation. Meaning, to have a lead test, just so I know about it... I have another blood test I need to have coming up so I will request a lead test as well as long as they are yanking blood.

I hope you find that this was just a temporary "spike" and levels will drop again when you test the next time.


G'Luck!

[Peregrine]

I'd have to go with handling the brass. While inorganic lead is not absorbed readily through skin, or even ingestion, organic lead salts such as the lead styphnate in primers are both readily absorbed through the skin and taken up by the body. Lead salts are orders of magnitude more dangerous than organic lead in this way.

By washing the brass you're putting it into solution where it can quickly be absorbed. Just wear gloves when handling the solution.

It's also likely that the tumbling of brass in the garage and then disturbing the dust contributed because again, the lead salts in the primer are so much more readily taken up by the body that they are almost certainly the source.

[richhodg66]

Also wondering if the OP shoots a lot on indoor ranges. I personally hate indoor ranges for a lot of reasons, so never shoot on them.

Seems I've heard primer dust has lead in it, kind of makes me wonder if I should take more care when depriming than bullet casting?

[fatelk]

Thanks guys, for the quick responses. I'm not terribly concerned but I do want to have a solid understanding and establish some good practices to decrease exposure going forward. I also have young children and want to make sure there is no exposure for them.

The range I shoot at is outdoor only. I've never in my life shot at an indoor range; well maybe once now that I think about it. I had my first blood test maybe 10-12 years ago and it was 5, then 5-6 years ago and it was 7, so 8 isn't much of a surprise but I was hoping it would be less.

I just installed a vent hood for casting. I will be sure to wear latex gloves when cleaning brass. I do have several buckets of range scrap in the garage that need processed, but they don't get handled or moved around. My other ingots don't appear to have any oxidation. The range scrap I was going to take out to a friend's house out of town to process, set up a big fan and wear dust masks when we handle it. They've sat there for several years and I'm about out of ingots now so I need to do that soon.

[fatelk]

Seems I've heard primer dust has lead in it, kind of makes me wonder if I should take more care when depriming than bullet casting?

I've thought about that too. After sizing and depriming brass there's always primer grit and dust on the hard floor under the press. I try to always wipe it up with a damp paper towel but forget sometimes, then the kids come into my room and I'm sure it gets tracked around. I'm going to be religious about keeping it cleaned up from now on.

[GARD72977]

8 is nothing to worry about. In my job im testes a lot. Under 10 is very low. You are getting exposed to lead but not enough to worry about.

[bob208]

get your water checked. is it a private well or a public system? yes there are a lot of water systems still using lead pipe.

[Side by Side]

I've thought about that too. After sizing and depriming brass there's always primer grit and dust on the hard floor under the press. I try to always wipe it up with a damp paper towel but forget sometimes, then the kids come into my room and I'm sure it gets tracked around. I'm going to be religious about keeping it cleaned up from now on.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Just tested a 7 in lead level, test results shows 5 and under are not to worry about. I do cast in my garage at a window with a fan sucking, that will change, from today I’ll cast outdoors. I use a wet tumbler for brass, I dump dirty water out and sort brass and rinse without gloves. I always shoot outdoors. Not really sure what caused it to go up. Two years ago I tested 10, thought because I was welding a galvanized trailer in my garage that caused the numbers to raise. Six months later I tested a 6.

[LAH]

I wouldn't worry too much about moving outside to cast. The danger is lead dust from cutting sprues, etc. I use a wet rag to clean that up. The simple act of casting will cause you no problem. I've cast a couple ton in my time with little to no ventilation. I flux the alloy while making it up outside so don't flux while casting. My levels have never been over 6. Tumbling brass is a different animal. Be careful. I've dry tumbled & sold a few 1000 pounds of the stuff with no problem. Simply don't breath the dust & clean up with a wet rag.

[Ausglock]

I get tested every year.
The last 5 years have been, 10,13,12,11,11
The 13 was when I started wet tumbling my pistol brass.
Bare hands in the tumble water when rinsing the brass is a Huge NO NO!!
The skin absorbs lead fast.
When processing casts I am gloved and have flow through ventilation.
Temp is always below 730 Deg F when casting.
A friend had levels of 28... he shot at indoor ranges and covered outdoor range that has steel poppers under a roofed area to contain splatter. When resetting the poppers, you could actually taste the lead in the air.
I do not shoot at that range due to this issue.

[imashooter2]

As lead in the general population falls, the doctors keep revising “acceptable limits" down. You are not a developing infant. 8 is absolutely nothing to be even remotely concerned with.

[LAH]

As lead in the general population falls, the doctors keep revising “acceptable limits" down. You are not a developing infant. 8 is absolutely nothing to be even remotely concerned with.

+1+

[Old Caster]

Lead levels vary with where you live too. Missouri is the worst place for this because it is the only place in the US that lead is present in its natural form in dirt. Mining here used to be taking soft rock and crushing them in water so the lead would go to the bottom and the sand dust would flow away. Some places you can see the lead in the stones as very small pieces so obviously our numbers are higher than other states but not high enough to matter. You can check on the net as to what the acceptable level was in the past and just back to the 60's if I remember correctly it is was 40. I have played with lead bullets since the 60's when I was on the Bullseye team in the Army and the only time I had lead levels that were considered too high was when I went to an indoor range twice a week and called the line twice and then shot a match myself but it certainly did not hit 40. Several weeks with no indoor range and it was gone. Something to watch but don't get paranoid.

[fredj338]

THe greatest lead exposure you can get is the indoor range. Those shooting indoors will have a higher lead level than those who shun indoor ranges. I might shoot 2-3x a year indoors but shoot almost every weekend. I have been casting & shooting for 45y now. My lead level is measurable but single digits. Exercise & diet play a role too.

[georgerkahn]

I get tested every year.
The last 5 years have been, 10,13,12,11,11
The 13 was when I started wet tumbling my pistol brass.
Bare hands in the tumble water when rinsing the brass is a Huge NO NO!!
The skin absorbs lead fast.
When processing casts I am gloved and have flow through ventilation.
Temp is always below 730 Deg F when casting.
A friend had levels of 28... he shot at indoor ranges and covered outdoor range that has steel poppers under a roofed area to contain splatter. When resetting the poppers, you could actually taste the lead in the air.
I do not shoot at that range due to this issue.

Thank you, Ausglock for this post! I have spent many, many hours wet tumbling, and have always done it all bare handed. Thanks to this, your post, it will be Nitrile gloves on my mitts in the future! I'd never have thought of this!
geo

[ioon44]

My highest lead levels were from the 1990's when I was shoot on indoor range's. I also wet tumble but keep my hands out of the water and I am using Nitrile gloves more when sorting out lead.

[Ausglock]

Thank you, Ausglock for this post! I have spent many, many hours wet tumbling, and have always done it all bare handed. Thanks to this, your post, it will be Nitrile gloves on my mitts in the future! I'd never have thought of this!
geo

G'day George.
Being a commercial bullet maker, makes one very aware of lead levels.
And being an IPSC shooter, means I go through a lot of handgun rounds every year, So casting & reloading in a big part of my life.