Arsenic in lead shot...should i worry?

[Idahoshooter]

Hi all..been smelting for just a short while...got maybe 250 lbs or so total in billets. Been using mix of magnum and reclaimed shot from a local skeet club as it is steady local supply of antimony/lead alloy at reasonable price.Ive been wondering if the arsenic in the shot could be a health problem? All my smelting is done outdoors..blue sky ..slight breeze and below freezing temps..dont breathe to many fumes from the pot but i do get a good wiff sometimes when fluxing and pouring billets. So far the most offensive smell is the coating inside aluminum cans burning..i use cans as molds. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[sagacious]

Fortunately, one need not worry at all about the arsenic. It's metallic arsenic, not arsenic trioxide or another toxic organic arsenic compound. Metallic arsenic is a whole different animal than the organic compounds. In the metallic state, arsenic cannot come out of the alloy as a vapor or "fumes" or in any other way that would pose a hazard to hobbyist lead pouring. I believe that Fryxell mentions this on the lasc site.

Use the standard cleanliness/hygene routine for reducing exposure to lead, keep your casting areas clean, don't eat/smoke while casting, etc, and you'll be fine. Metallic arsenic in lead shot is not a health hazard.

Now, the fumes/smoke from fluxing can be a health hazard, and one is inclined to strongly suspect that the gaseous emissions from the burning liner in aluminum cans also poses some health hazard. Do yourself a huge favor and get some cast-iron or cast-aluminum ingot molds.

Hope this helps, good luck. :drinks:

[canebreaker]

metallic arsenic

What I've read and heard about it,
You'd have to be in an inclosed room breathing the fumes 24/7 for about 10 years before noticing anything.
You'd be exposed to mercury long before that.

[twotrees]

Arsenic in lead alloy, will do wonders, for making cast hollow point boolits. Water dropped they will have a Very hard shell, but almost dead soft center.

In the distant past I worked at a place that made batteries and the lead they were using had a high arsenic content. I cast a bunch of 358156 HP's with that and couldn't believe how hard I could push them and still have them hold together, on impact.

Good Luck with yours too.

[cbrick]

Arsenic in lead alloy, will do wonders, for making cast hollow point boolits. Water dropped they will have a Very hard shell, but almost dead soft center.

Not true, lead does not react like steel when heat treated. When steel is heat treated it is a surface hardening only. When lead is heat treated (or quenched) it is the same hardness all the way through. Like the hardening process itself it may take a few days for the inside to catch up with the outside but the boolit will be the same or very close to the same strength all the way through.


In the distant past I worked at a place that made batteries and the lead they were using had a high arsenic content. I cast a bunch of 358156 HP's with that and couldn't believe how hard I could push them and still have them hold together, on impact. Good Luck with yours too.

Hardened hollow points?? Zero expansion, zero mushrooming until you get the velocity up high enough to simply break the nose off. Why cast a HP?


Ive been wondering if the arsenic in the shot could be a health problem?

Not to worry, at the percentages of arsenic used in lead alloys and at the temps used in casting boolits the arsenic in your alloy is far, far less of a toxic concern than the antimony or even the lead. Antimony is more toxic than the arsenic and it goes without saying that all proper lead handling precautions should always be followed.

Here is an excellent article on safely handling lead alloys written by one of Castboolits own. Lead Safety (http://www.lasc.us/LeadSafety.htm)

Concerning arsenic in boolit alloys the big NO-NO is trying to alloy raw arsenic into your melt yourself. At the temps required to do this arsenic "sublimes" meaning that it goes straight from a solid to a gaseous state and these fumes are deadly. This needs to be left to the professionals.

Rick

[Shiloh]

Metalic arsenic is sort of "bound" by the other alloy, in this case lead. Unlike an organic compound it is a lot harder to be freed so to speak. Never the less, it is very poisonous. Common sense safety practices while casting and handling lead, will suffice.

Shiloh