need help tracing my lead exposure

[trickyasafox]

Hi guys, sorry to bring up a topic that already see's so much comment space, but i'm having trouble figuring out where my problem is.

Last year, my lead level in my blood was 8.6 or so. This year, it's up to 16.4.

Now unfortunately there are a few too many variables for me to narrow down in the testing. the lower score was taken at the beginning of the summer, before i have done much of my shooting. my current score was taken midway through the summer after a lot of shooting. (i'm away at school 8 months of the year with 0 shooting)

secondly, this is the first year i've started casting, but i don't think thats my problem. I do so only outside, with a 3M mask on and gloves in the backyard. . . .unless you guys see a hole in that. (i wear safety glasses too)

I think the problem is that I tumble inside, and i don't decap my brass beforehand. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that is a legitimate source of lead exposure, or if i'm just parroting 'internet fact'.

all my shooting is outdoors. I shoot 3-5 times per week. All my pistol shooting is with lead bullets, and constitutes 65-70% of my actual volume of probably 300-350 rounds per week.

If i move the tumbler to the garage will that help? also, if it does help, will i need to clean my basement to get rid of any lead that is down there? if so is it something you can do yourself?

I always tumble with the lid on, but the media seperator gets dusty. to curve this, i've been adding a touch of water and used dryer sheets to the media and it helps a lot, but i just started doing that recently.

and as a final point, are there any small dietary or other home remedy changes i can do that help lower lead levels? im 23, and i'd like to make it a while yet shooting as much if not more than i do now if i can help it :)

thanks all!

[The Dust Collector]

One source that may not be apparent to many, is the level your face is relative to the depriming action of your press. The popping out of the primer releases a desicated powder of lead trinitro resorcinate ( lead styphnate ) the priming compound.
I bought a lead test kit from McMaster Carr a few years ago to see the lead collection on various surfaces. The highest concentration was adjacent to my press and in the area where I dump my brass into my separator.
DUST

[Bob Jones]

I've heard many times that tumbling is one of the worst lead exposures due to the fine dust. Strictly hearsay, can't prove it, but have sure heard it a lot FWIW.

[Bass Ackward]

Drink orange juice.

[randyrat]

Wash your pistol brass in soap and vinegar water,rinse and let dry. They will come out shiney and clean as a new brass buckel, NO DUST. Do this before you size and deprime. Or tumble with a bit of car wax in your media. Be sure to tumble for a bit to mix the wax in good before your brass goes in- Tumble in the garage. I wear rubber gloves inside my leather casting gloves when my casting gloves start to get nasty dirty from handling WWs and lots of lead. Either your getting exposed somehow or the test are not accurate. I would put my money on the test are wrong or a high +/- factor. Other factors= shooting inside? eating/drinking while or near depriming/reloading. ( I don't beleive hands are are a likely route of entry for lead in your system). Lastly- Are your lead exposure numbers high enough to be alarmed?

[MtGun44]

It is a good thing to track your lead level, but you shouldn't
get very worried about 16 mg/dl as this level is pretty negligable
as to any actual health effects.

Beware of doctors claiming anything over 10 is serious. This is
not true, please research and you will verify. Most docs do not
know much about lead exposure and go by the children's
lead level limit of 10 which is very conservative due to the possiblity
of damage to developing nerve cells. For adults this is not a
valid level to start being seriously concerned about.

Stay in the under 30 range and you will be very unlikely to have any
health effects. OTOH, making an effort to minimize exposure is
always a good plan.

Bill

[blysmelter]

I follow a few simple rules
-dont smelt or cast without ventilation (or outside)
-dont handle lead without gloves
-dont drink or eat while shooting,reloading or casting
-wash hands after handling lead or shooting
-dispose of that stuff you skim off your lead, dont let it accumulate
-keep it clean around your cast set-up and reloading bench
-dont shoot leadboolits at poorly ventilated indoor ranges

I and some other guys didnt follow that last one, we just an old bunker (more like a cave blasted into the mountain) as a pistol range. A couple of thoose guys ended up with sky-high levels of lead in their blood. W e still use this range but only with plated bullets.

[trickyasafox]

interesting, i never thought about what margin of error the test runs at. I know 16 is still low, and that didn't concern me, but the jump from last year did. i know i'm still in the safe zone, but if i have a similar jump next year, i'll be mid 20s, and that could raise health concerns.

I heard the OJ thing, lucky for me i love the stuff :)

I'm gonna call the doc and see if maybe i can get a 6 month recheck or just wait 12. Either way i am going to move the tumbling to outside (garage instead of basement)

do you guys where gloves when loading? i just wash my hands after. . . .

thank you for all the help, you guys are helping to put my mind at ease :)

[44man]

Another thing to consider. Have you ever had your water checked? You could be drinking lead too.

[BD]

+1 for washing your brass before tumbling or decapping. After a high lead level test a few years back I determined that my tumbler and my progressive press were the worst areas of exposure under my control. Washing your brass first controls the lead styphenate exposure in both of these areas. I throw my bulk range brass into a 5 gallon bucket, when it's about 1/2 full I add some simple green and fill it with water, put the lid on and then roll it back and forth to agitate. Rinse it and pour it out to dry. I still tumble it with a squirt of cleaner/wax and there's no dust. I also wipe down the press and bench from time to time. BD

[axman]

Ditto on blysmelters advice, plus dont smoke while casting or smelting, I had a lead level check a few years ago just after a I had smelted probably 4 tons over a year and a half period and the doc said it was neglible.

[C1PNR]

A lot of good "food for thought" here. I just checked my records and find my lead level was 4 back in 2005. I think I'll have it checked again. The VA says it should be from 0 - 39 so your 16 is is still relatively low.

Some time ago I read something about the lead styphnate collecting in your tumbler media. The suggestion, which I followed, was to tumble outside, lid off, with a fan blowing across the open top. After about an hour, maybe it was two, I noticed I had essentially NO dust in the media.

I usually tumble before (and after) sizing and depriming and will continue to do so outdoors.

[TAWILDCATT]

I dont trust docs to much in regard to lead levels.the testing yes but expertize no no no.any body do washing of parts in gas.that will do it.also take supliments of iron and or zinc. back in 60s lead poisoning was all the rage for children.mine was 45 but now is under 9.I used to do alot of washing parts in gas.think I will give the NRA a call and see the latest info.:coffee: :Fire: :coffee:

[felix]

Zinc works well in killing blood lead. Make sure you take zinc pills in low doses per dose. Will upset the stomach terribly. Suggest no more than 20 milligrams per dose, twice a day for no more than a week. Do another blood test before taking more. Nothing worse than getting the "micro-nutrients" out of balance. ... felix

[Willbird]

Gasoline has not had lead in it (most gasoline) for many years. AND Internal Combustion Engine Fuel is no longer even remotely gasoline hehe.

Bill

[no34570]

Hi Fellas
You all have me worried now about my lead levels,that I just made a appointment to get my blood tested by the local quack:(
I camp away for work and live in a comfortable caravan while over at work and I take my casting gear over to cast of a night(theres nothing to do after work,everything is dead)and I keep all my casting stuff and over 100kg of lead inside the caravan with me[smilie=1:
Is that alright or ya reckon I should put it outside:confused:
Thanks
no34570:castmine:
(why I'm home and not at work is I had half a log come back and hit me in the chest,off work for awhile?:roll:

[trk]

Drink orange juice.

GOOD ADVICE. I have a cousin ( a neurosurgeon by trade, who's life's work was dealing with lead poisoning - serious cases thereof ). He found that vitimin C was about the only thing that mitigated the effects thereof.

Obviously the other side of the equation is to limit or eliminate exposure.

DO BOTH.

[truckjohn]

1. Cleanliness is most likely where you got your exposure.
Buy yourself a jug of D-Lead soap. Get some of the orange "Body Wash" and another jug of their new "Wet or Dry" hand cleaner.

But you say.... I wash up afterwards. Regular soap and water are not nearly as effective as D-lead soap. Lead is not soluble in water + regular alkaline soaps, but D-lead (Acid PH soap) cuts it like crazy. I have scrubbed out leaded barrels with the stuff and a brass brush.

2. NO drinks, food, smoking, or tobacco use while casting or before you wash hands and face.

3. Outside -- wear a head band and have a rag to wipe off sweat.

4. Clothes -- wash your leaded clothes separate from other clothes. Wash them using the D-lead soap too + laundry detergent.

5. Another thing.... wash your skin real good with D-lead soap before getting a blood lead test. I read a study that possibly up to 10 points of a blood lead reading was from the slug of dead skin pushed into the needle at the blood draw site.

Example of hygiene.... sweaty forehead casting, sweat drips down your face and you lick your lips. You just ate lead.

Another example: You chew tobacco. On your break from casting, you dip out a chew after washing your hands with regular bar soap and water. You just ate lead.

Best regards

John

[trickyasafox]

ah i use dial soap! i never realized you needed special soap. is D-lead available at most stores?

[454PB]

My vote goes to the indoor shooting. I've been casting indoors without ventilation for many years, never wear gloves while handling boolits or reloadiing, and my last blood lead level was well below the OSHA guidelines for concern.

I do take 2-1000mg. vitamin C and 60 mg. of Zinc (among other vitamins and supplements) daily. I also wash my hands thoroughly after handling lead or slugs.

[Springfield]

D-Lead is available at Brownell's. Need some more myself. Just melted down 1600 lbs of lead today.

[Bad Water Bill]

:coffee: Very interesting . Now how do you clean up any dust that escaped from the tumbler without contaminating yourself all over again? BWB
:castmine:

[Lloyd Smale]

lead levels are very hard to get accurate readings on. A blood test will just show whats in your blood and if you have had a recent exposure to lead such as a casting session they will show high and your body will rid itself of some of them. Lead is stored in the fat cells and and the only really accurate test is the one they do by testing your hair. Mine has varried 20 points from one week to another. The chelting pills do help. I keep a suply of them on hand but you have to keep in mind when you take them that lead isnt the only thing your flushing out of your system and take vitamans to replace what you loose. Like was said 16 is pretty low and it wouldnt consern me. Ive been treated twice and by two different doctors and one thought that 20 was getting to the high side and one thought that about 30 was. Mine was at 62 the first time and 87 the second and i showed no symtoms even at those levels. Be careful with this deal as the doctor has a reposibilty to turn these in and i had osha calling me to find out what lead products i had at my house and at work. Hanging up on them a few times got them off my back but if they caught you by surprise and you told them about all the lead you had at your house id about bet theyd be pounding on your door and treating you like you ran a haz waste dump and were poisoning everyone around you.

[truckjohn]

:coffee: Very interesting . Now how do you clean up any dust that escaped from the tumbler without contaminating yourself all over again? BWB
:castmine:

Lead dust is really really heavy. It drops pretty fast.

Buy a shop-vac with a HEPA filter installed. Use their High Efficiency Filter bags too. They are pretty cheap. Use it to get stuff you can't get with floor sweep compound.

1. Don't cast or play with lead inside your house or around carpet.

2. Smooth concrete outside the house makes for easy cleanup.

3. Don't dry sweep if you can help it-- it flips the lead back up into the air.

4. Make yourself some "floor sweep compound"
5 gal bucket of sawdust
1 cup kerosene or some scented lamp oil if you prefer.
Mix thoroughly.
Keep it in a can with a tight lid.

Spread it over the dusty floor.
Sweep it up. Lead dust sticks to the floor sweep compound.
Now, you can get it back up and dispose of it.

Good luck.

John