Tested For Lead Contamination Today

[leadman]

Awhile back I posted my "Casting Closet" I made to help me avoid increasing my blood lead level which had gone from less than 3 to 12.9.
Today I used Lead Check swabs to test myself and my casting closet for accumulated lead. I tested 2 pieces of aluminum plate after cleaning for lead before I started making shot. None showed with the swab, but the wood I rest my moulds on to close them did.
I had my Littleton, a #20 Lee pot, and a pan on a hot plate all on at the same time. None of the molten lead temperatures went above 800' today or since I made the closet.
I taped one small piece of plate to the front of my shirt, the other plate to the side wall of the closet just off my left shoulder. After 5 hours of making shot I tested the plates and my respirator that I was wearing. No lead showed.
I then tested the wood that my 20" box fan rests on behind the pots, pulling away the smoke, etc. This wood was not cleaned prior to testing and has been in place since I built the closet.

This tested a very bright pink for lead!

This tells me that lead, probably in a dust type form, is leaving my lead pots. This also tells me that my closet and fan contraption are doing what they were designed to. This will not make me put aside my respirator though.

I am going to develop my closet further by enclosing the top to help the fan draw away the fumes from the pots. Don't think it is necessary, but can't hurt.

I think it would be prudent of fellow casters to develop a positive method of ventilation with fans blowing from behind or fans sucking any fumes. I was using fans and in the summer a 5500cfm swamp cooler from behind me but the strong swirling winds would sometimes blow from my pots to me. This is why I built the 3 sided closet to prevent the winds from doing this.

[TAWILDCATT]

you might try iron and zinc suppliments.ask your doc how one gets rid of lead in system and see what he says.I have never got a straight answer.
zinc amalgams with lead and flushes out and iron replaces lead in storage and pushes it out.according to my information.

[Jim]

I had a very extensive heavy metals check done about a year ago. Nothing, absolutely zip.

[leadman]

The state of Minnesota published a diet to help reduce blood lead levels so have been trying to follow it. Doc is going to retest with my normal blood work in Dec.
Even though my level is considered low still, I had a metallic taste in my mouth and my teeth felt different. This is what prompted me to be tested.
OSHA doesn't require treatment until a person reaches 40, so I had a long way to go.

[GP100man]

Leadman

How long did it take to go from 3 to 12.9??

I`ve always smelted & cast up wind or a fan blowin from the side , my last heavymetal blood work came back neg. thank goodness!!!

[44man]

Won't help me, been nuts all my life anyway! ;)
I think when you flux and skim is where the lead comes from, not from hot lead. That dusty junk from the surface needs vented away.
Be careful taking zinc, use only SMALL amounts. My dad had some zinc pills once and I took one, they were too big. My whole body started to vibrate, I got so dizzy I wound up on the floor. I always wondered what a pound of LSD felt like! :lol:
It slowly passed and I had to run to the bathroom with the runs. Scared the heck out of me. To this day I can't figure out what my dad used them for, maybe to have a little escape from my mother! :bigsmyl2:

[Harpman]

I got lead posioning last year from lead dust, tell ya what guys, if you get a good dose your gonna find out what pain really is, and it doesnt let up for months, its been a year now, my hands are still swollen and my muscles are still not recovered totally, probly 6 months to another year before I am back to normal.
Keep everything clean around your lead setup...I got it from collecting indoor range lead, ( no mask ) But our casting setups need to be kept very clean to keep it from building up..The lead does something that prevents the blood from feeding your muscles and nerves properly, so the nerves go whacko and register extreme pain 24/7, and your muscles just start hurting....plus it tries to destroy most your internal organs...nasty stuff..Becarefull gents.

[Harpman]

ALSO, sorry dont remember where I read it, but anything over a 10 can show clinical signs of poisoning, 3 months after my initial onset I figured it was lead and got tested, at that point mine was 18...so if you have anywhere near 10 to be on the safe side I would start some real precautionary measures...thats just too close to the really bad part..and no one knows at what point they may get the symptons..were all different..and besides your blood level, you have to focus on your bones, when the lead gets in you it goes to your bones and pushes calcium out and replaces it, so your blood can look good but it can still be hiding in your bone, and when it lets loose boy look out, extra calcium, like coral cacium will push it out and lots of Viatamin C helps with it as a precautionary measure.... I been taking 2500mg of C a day and 500 of calcium and it helps..remember just because fella "A" can have a 14 reading and feel fine, fella "B" might get sick at a 10 reading..mayoclinic.com has some good stuff on this.