Lead exposure amount from primers

[Mint]

I've tried googling this for some time but can't find anything.

Does anyone know roughly how much lead someone is exposed to after a given number of rounds, say 100 in one sitting, at an outdoor range. Ideally expressed as µg/dL.

Obviously it depends on body chemistry, the wind, and many many variables, but generally if you shot a lever action rifle 100 times outdoors in perfectly still air.

I follow a very strict, bordering on OCD shooting regimen (D-lead laundry detergent, wipes, shampoo, changing clothes before I get in car, etc), and my lead levels still rise.

I'm trying to ascertain if this rise is roughly the same as the amount of lead exposure I would get from primers while shooting X number of rounds, OR, if it's not the same, then that would help me see if the problem is actually with my cleaning/handling procedure somewhere.

[shell70634]

I'm curious how you are testing your lead level. I was tested in 2019 and had zero after 50 years of reloading and shooting.

[36g]

Are you sure that any lead level increase is due to shooting and not other environmental factors such as lead paint, natural lead levels at the shooting site, etc.?

[Mint]

I'm curious how you are testing your lead level. I was tested in 2019 and had zero after 50 years of reloading and shooting.

It was a blood test I got at a blood lab, and they sent it out for processing

[Mint]

Are you sure that any lead level increase is due to shooting and not other environmental factors such as lead paint, natural lead levels at the shooting site, etc.?

It's possible, but it's hard to tell that without knowing roughly the amount of lead increase I can expect from JUST shooting (isolating it to primers). That way, essentially anything over that is probably my fault, or the fault of the environment.

If it's related to shooting I will either 1) shoot less 2) wear a mask and look like a fool 3) try to find lead-free primers from fiocchi

If it's more than what's related to shooting then I would essentially up my game which is already at 90%. There are more things I could do to get that last 10% (such as washing my hands EVERY time touching a gun, even if its just by the stock to carry it 10 feet). I haven't done those things as I suspected they wouldn't matter that much.

[JimB..]

I don’t have a clear answer, but my guess is that it’d be too low to measure.

I take none of the precautions you take, other that to wash my hands after shooting, and I most often shoot 1,000 rounds indoors, and my lead level is zero, or nearly so.

I’d look for another source.

Edit: you could stop shooting for a couple months and see what happens

[Mint]

I don’t have a clear answer, but my guess is that it’d be too low to measure.

I take none of the precautions you take, other that to wash my hands after shooting, and I most often shoot 1,000 rounds indoors, and my lead level is zero, or nearly so.

I’d look for another source.

Edit: you could stop shooting for a couple months and see what happens

1000 over what time period?

Also how did you get yours tested, the same kind of blood test?

[super6]

Lead styfanate is some nasty stuff, Wear a mask if you plan on pulling a pot load of rounds on the range. Otherwise, A windy day may help. And yes it may look foolish but its your health that is at stake.

[36g]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are running hundreds of cast Boolits downrange at a setting or doing a lot of muzzleloading with soft lead balls then wash your hands well afterward. Don't dine on lead paint chips... I've worked in chemical labs over the course of 50+ years working with lots of nasty (and some now banned) chemicals/metals and just some common sense precautions and cleanup go a long ways. I wouldn't obsess over the incidental lead exposure. There are far more environmental and other naturally occurring toxins that you are exposed to every day. If you really knew what you are eating (as allowed in foods) you'd probably swear off eating...

[Mint]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are running hundreds of cast Boolits downrange at a setting or doing a lot of muzzleloading with soft lead balls then wash your hands well afterward. Don't dine on lead paint chips... I've worked in chemical labs over the course of 50+ years working with lots of nasty (and some now banned) chemicals/metals and just some common sense precautions and cleanup go a long ways. I wouldn't obsess over the incidental lead exposure. There are far more environmental and other naturally occurring toxins that you are exposed to every day. If you really knew what you are eating (as allowed in foods) you'd probably swear off eating...

I appreciate that perspective as someone working in a chemical lab. With that said, I do worry about it because the "base level" of 10 is very clearly and obviously outdated. Safe lead levels used to be 65 μg/dL in the 50s, and now its 10 set in 1991. I believe it's been shown this number should be lowered to 2.

At the exact same time I started shooting more I started getting very relstless at night, can't sleep, less appetite, headaches when Ive never had headaches my entire life. Quite literally every symptom of mild lead exposure I got when I started shooting more a few months ago.

Could it be something else? Absolutely, but the timing is too perfect, so I have to at least consider it's a very real possibility.

Not to mention, I need to be exceptionally sharp during the day (I am CTO of several of my own companies and deal with fairly sophisticated algorithms and programming. Ive programmed for ~12-15 hours a day for the last 15+ years, so I'm hyper aware of the capabilities/limits of my mind, and when my cognition is effected, and it is absolutely affected). Again... maybe a coincidence, but the timing is too good. Levels > 5 have been shown to impair cognition.

If I just were retired and shot boolits in my back yard I wouldn't care, but in my current environment I can't afford any of that, so I'm leaning heavily on the side of safety.

[36g]

Good observations. Just as a note - in the analytical world of medicine and others as it relates to acceptable levels of toxins or contaminants, there are any variety of specifications and regulations that call for "None Detected" or No Detectable Level is Acceptable. That's all well and fine except for the fact that when the regulations/specifications were first published the detection capability wasn't what it is today. Where in the past a detection level in the parts per thousand or parts per million was all that could be done now the detection level may be in the parts per trillion or less. The regulations haven't changed nor have the original studies been redone to provide guidance as to any new acceptable level. Just something to consider.

[Geezer in NH]

Maby you should give up shooting?
All the stuff you are doing is OCD to me. Quit shooting relieve your mind but do not tell your wife that you have. Your lead goes up again think about how?????

[Froogal]

I go through 100 rounds once every month for about 7 months or so, and my wife does the same. The other 5 months are spent in the basement reloading so we can do it all again. No problems ever with lead exposure.

[Mint]

Good observations. Just as a note - in the analytical world of medicine and others as it relates to acceptable levels of toxins or contaminants, there are any variety of specifications and regulations that call for "None Detected" or No Detectable Level is Acceptable. That's all well and fine except for the fact that when the regulations/specifications were first published the detection capability wasn't what it is today. Where in the past a detection level in the parts per thousand or parts per million was all that could be done now the detection level may be in the parts per trillion or less. The regulations haven't changed nor have the original studies been redone to provide guidance as to any new acceptable level. Just something to consider.

That makes sense, thanks for that clarification.

[Mint]

Maby you should give up shooting?
All the stuff you are doing is OCD to me. Quit shooting relieve your mind but do not tell your wife that you have. Your lead goes up again think about how?????

I'm not going to give up shooting, lol. My mind is also at ease. It's just something I'm working to solve thats all

[Handloader109]

Are you reloading? Picking up brass? Use a pair of nitrile gloves, use ince and toss. Environment can be otherwise. Local to us is a school that borders on an old military complex. Mercury in water is way high according to the school. Government already cleaned up, but maybe not good enough. Just sayin

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[john.k]

Do primers have any lead in them? Did once ,100 years ago?.........anyhoo,local range was military rifle shooting for a lot of years,there must be tons of mercury from military 303 primers in the dirt there.......wont stop the land grabbers from putting houses there if they get a chance.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've tried googling this for some time but can't find anything.

Does anyone know roughly how much lead someone is exposed to after a given number of rounds, say 100 in one sitting, at an outdoor range. Ideally expressed as µg/dL.

Obviously it depends on body chemistry, the wind, and many many variables, but generally if you shot a lever action rifle 100 times outdoors in perfectly still air.

I follow a very strict, bordering on OCD shooting regimen (D-lead laundry detergent, wipes, shampoo, changing clothes before I get in car, etc), and my lead levels still rise.

I'm trying to ascertain if this rise is roughly the same as the amount of lead exposure I would get from primers while shooting X number of rounds, OR, if it's not the same, then that would help me see if the problem is actually with my cleaning/handling procedure somewhere.

First, the current CDC's BLL (in a Adult), where a clinician should monitor a patient and start taking steps to identify and reduce the patient's exposure, is 5 µg/dL.

I can't imagine ordinary outdoor rifle range shooting would raise BLL, specifically from the lead styphnate from spent primers. If that was even possible, there'd be millions of us rednecks with BLL above 5 µg/dL.

If you were actually OCD, you'd be telling us in excruciating details, step by step, how you are handling a cartridge from firing it, to cleaning it, to loading it again. Because, if your BLL is elevated from a primer's lead styphnate, it's likely from an activity other than the shooting itself.

Some time ago (10-15 years ago), I had a test with a result of 8. After some research, I determined it was likely caused from tumbling spent cases with spent primers intact, in a dry tumbler with dry polishing media (that activity does generate a fair amount of dust, some of which is likely lead styphnate dust.)

Prior to that test, I was not even aware that spent primers contained lead styphnate. Dry tumbling is probably the highest possibility for a reloader (even a boolit caster), to raise BLL...although if a boolit caster/reloader handles lead projectiles (that have age oxidation) with bare fingers during reloading or such, that is another way to raise BLL, that's on the TOP of the list.

[crowbuster]

I Had more issues with the death dust from the media in the tumbler than I ever had with shooting. Went to steel pins and water. No more problems.

[JimB..]

1000 over what time period?

Also how did you get yours tested, the same kind of blood test?

Over a couple hours, depends on the day.
BTW, I also reload, so lots of dealing with dirty brass and spent primers.
Mostly I don’t eat or drink at the range or when processing brass, and I don’t lick stuff.
Yes, physician ordered blood tests, I’m looking for the actual results.