anyone have high blood levels before

[bmortell]

for those who have had high blood lead levels before, how do you think you got it? how high was it? what symptoms did you have? or anything to share that might be helpful info to others.

[Dieselhorses]

A few years back my BLL was 15 micrograms per deciliter. The CDC max level for adults before entering danger zone is 10 (5 for kids).

More info here.

[CastingFool]

Mine was pretty high, but I think it eas due to all the demo work that I did on our house, quite often without a mask. House was built in the early to mid 60's, so I'm sure there wad a lot of lead paint used over the years. I had no symptoms whatsoever.

[Mark Daiute]

I have my blood lead level checked annually. For some reason I am fine, thank god.

[BigAlofPa.]

Mine was up. I got it back down. I was snacking while processing brass. Stopped the snacking it came down.

[RED BEAR]

Mine went up once. I was doing everything wrong eating and drinking while casting no ventilation. Took no precautions with tumbler had long hours of handling lead. It was high but not crazy high at 19. Just left it alone for a month and levels came back to normal.

[shootinfox2]

Mine got up to 21. Switched to wet tumbling. Down to 15 after a month. I make bullets and shot so my exposure is probably high to start with. No eating or drinking in the shop and regular vacuuming of surfaces in the shop. Respirator when smelting.

[TNsailorman]

Never had it checked, so don't have a clue.

[bmortell]

I never checked yet, asking because im thinking about getting it done soon. I been consuming calcium bentonite clay in conjunction with casting pretty much since I started since its supposed to help remove lead from the body, might have been helping slightly

[Pablo 5959]

Mine was at 25 about 6 years ago.
I installed a air handler blower directly over my pot and wear a half mask respirator when casting.
I’m down to 5 now.

[TNsailorman]

Talk about getting the "lead out", Pablo you are a winner.

[Maine1]

from what I understood, lead stayed in the body and could not be flushed out.
Mine was 4.5, and from the scale I was measured on, 10 was high.
Should get checked again.
They say that on the range, shooting shotgun exposes you to the most airborne lead, and I do quite a few shotgun qualifications for out division every year.

Are you guys doing anything specific to flush out the lead?

[Walks]

Had mine checked two years ago, and again in Dec. No rise in mine in years, actually low. And I spent ages 12 to 17 shooting Trap and a bit of Skeet almost every weekend. The test I was given the scale was 0-4, I was a 2.

[Bphunter]

I cast a lot these days and was concerned enough about my casual handling and exposure to get tested. I handle a lot of lead with bare hands, brush out my pot occasionally and other risky stuff. However, I never eat while casting and handle my beverages with great care. I don't have a fan, but I do crack the garage door open in the winter for some ventilation. Anyway, my level came back at 2.7 ug/DL, which I'm pretty happy with. I always wash up and change clothes after a session to prevent dust transfer to something I'm eating or drinking, which they say is the most likely way to get poisoned.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've read mega doses of Vit C will flush the lead out of your system, but be warned, I also read that it will flush medications (like BP meds) out of your system. When I had a blood/lead test that was 8, I started taking Vit C. I slowly worked up the dosage, as I also read at some point you may experience diarrhea. When I reached 2K mg daily, the diarrhea arrived shortly thereafter.

[RogerDat]

If you work with lead OR brass cases you should have your annual physical include a heavy metals blood test. Get a baseline, if it is elevated then track down exposure source and make changes, watch to see if the level comes down.

Primer when fired leaves a lead based dust. Very easy to absorb. Even through skin but certainly through breathing. So indoor firing ranges used extensively are a possible source, as is sorting dirty brass (digging through buckets got me up a bit) dry tumbling of brass can put a lot of that primer dust into the air. Polish and mineral spirits to dampen the media first and nitrile gloves when handling the brass can make a big difference. I switched to wet tumbling and level dropped even more, but I do now wear nitrile gloves for handling brass or lead. Most reloading or casting activities are going to involve gloves of some sort. But changing how I handled processing spent brass made the most difference.

Levels given currently by the CDC are really low and dropping every few years. No amount is "safe" so CDC sets levels accordingly. The levels OSHA requires for work place before frequent testing or change in work environment are much higher. I think 20+ for regular testing and 40 for change of work environment.

High or low one has to have a baseline in order to measure the impact of any changes that might be indicated as necessary to reduce levels. Or know if there is any cause for concern in the first place. So make testing a regular part of your annual physical and act accordingly. The chemicals proven to remove lead are according to the specialist I saw once are generally worse than the lead itself unless one is in real danger. I dropped from I think around 10 to 6 in a year just by changing how I dealt with brass. Went lower still when I put a box of nitrile gloves at both the reloading bench inside and the casting shelf in the garage and started wet tumbling brass with SS pins.

[dondiego]

If you work with lead OR brass cases you should have your annual physical include a heavy metals blood test. Get a baseline, if it is elevated then track down exposure source and make changes, watch to see if the level comes down.

Primer when fired leaves a lead based dust. Very easy to absorb. Even through skin but certainly through breathing. So indoor firing ranges used extensively are a possible source, as is sorting dirty brass (digging through buckets got me up a bit) dry tumbling of brass can put a lot of that primer dust into the air. Polish and mineral spirits to dampen the media first and nitrile gloves when handling the brass can make a big difference. I switched to wet tumbling and level dropped even more, but I do now wear nitrile gloves for handling brass or lead. Most reloading or casting activities are going to involve gloves of some sort. But changing how I handled processing spent brass made the most difference.

Levels given currently by the CDC are really low and dropping every few years. No amount is "safe" so CDC sets levels accordingly. The levels OSHA requires for work place before frequent testing or change in work environment are much higher. I think 20+ for regular testing and 40 for change of work environment.

High or low one has to have a baseline in order to measure the impact of any changes that might be indicated as necessary to reduce levels. Or know if there is any cause for concern in the first place. So make testing a regular part of your annual physical and act accordingly. The chemicals proven to remove lead are according to the specialist I saw once are generally worse than the lead itself unless one is in real danger. I dropped from I think around 10 to 6 in a year just by changing how I dealt with brass. Went lower still when I put a box of nitrile gloves at both the reloading bench inside and the casting shelf in the garage and started wet tumbling brass with SS pins.

So you feel that you were getting lead adsorbed through your skin while handling the brass and bullets? I need to start using my gloves I guess. I used to have my blood checked every year, especially since I was using lead nitrate added to water in order to perform lead reduction testing on drinking water filters in a laboratory. Using lead in the work place and at home gave me concern but I never tested over 5 so the doc suggested that I don't need to test for lead any more. I am going to insist on a test at my next physical.

[RogerDat]

So you feel that you were getting lead adsorbed through your skin while handling the brass and bullets? I need to start using my gloves I guess. I used to have my blood checked every year, especially since I was using lead nitrate added to water in order to perform lead reduction testing on drinking water filters in a laboratory. Using lead in the work place and at home gave me concern but I never tested over 5 so the doc suggested that I don't need to test for lead any more. I am going to insist on a test at my next physical.

When I was dry tumbling especially I was handling cases that were covered with the residue of tumbling to clean out the case so gloves for handling those when I was tapping out the media and sorting. Then there was sizing and gas checks where I was handling lead over and over. Including using a outside chamfer tool to clean up the bottom edge. Holding the bullet tightly while turning the handle. So plenty of possible exposure. My primary care made a bit bigger deal out of it than the specialist still I had to take steps to bring levels down and reassure dear wife.

I think my biggest exposure was dumping scoops of brass into a sided tray in my lap then sorting through them for brass I wanted. I would go through a couple of 5 gallon buckets of range brass that way on a regular basis. Would have dust on my clothes, skin and pretty sure up my nose by the time I was done. Then I was washing the brass I kept and was told that the primer compound could be absorbed through skin so started wearing a rubber glove for that.

I think I was also bad about moving a few items or handling a few items of lead in the garage then not washing my hands. If I sat down to "do" lead stuff I would make a point to wash but just moving some scrap around or digging some items out from a shelf? Not always. Having a ready supply of nitrile gloves handy helped. As well as a pair of cheap work gloves available just for lead. Not too much hassle to just slip something on.

I too dropped to ~5 and so I guess somewhere in those changes I got the results I needed.

Not sure which exactly moved levels in the right direction. But I was going with a broad approach. Success was my telling wife I thought I knew what I needed to do to reduce exposure and having levels go down. I was almost right about something for a moment.

[fredj338]

High levels is kind of relative but my highest levels were when shooting indoors. I rarely do that anymore. I like to restrict indoor shooting to about 4x a year. You do not absorb lead thru your skin. You inhale dust or ingest it by touching your mouth with contaminated hands. If you have lead poisoning symptoms, you are already in big trouble, so best to monitor it annually if over exposed, as in shooting indoors.