Went to the Doctor

[DCP]

So I am at the Drs office and I asked.
When you do blood work do you check for Lead levels

She says no just in Children, Why

I told her I was a Bullet Caster

She says you not eating them are you.
You not smoking when you cast or eating ( I dont smoke)
And if you dont chew on them bullets you will be fine.


I think I am in Love even thought shes almost half my age.

[par0thead151]

i would still get tested...
piece of mind.
that said, i need to go get a blood test done...

[Dale53]

My Dr. said the same thing. Just take reasonable precautions and it is NO problem.

FWIW
Dale53

[dragonrider]

Whenever I get a blood test it is tested for lead, had my doc make that standard procedure years ago, it has never been elevated.

[James Wisner]

I hit up my doctor two months ago about testingmy lead levels, of course I had to educate him about smelting, and temps and vapors. So he said OK will do it the next ime I had blood work for my other problems.

It came back low, a 2 on the scale, so I think I am doing things right anyway. Have no backgound data to lok at though as this is the first lead level test in my life, and I am 50.

James Wisner

[Ben]

I think keeping your hands clean after any contact with lead is critical based on everything that I read.

[WallyM3]

I had my lead level tested recently when I started casting. It isn't covered by insurance, but I think it's a prudent base-line to have on record.

It was "none".

Besides, there were all those paint sandwiches....

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

The above is one of the reasons I get so ticked over all the media hype!![smilie=b:

Years back I had been melting and molding a large amount of WW and then happened to be into the doctor for some type of blood work.

Ask him to check the lead level.

ZIP----------------------------- No problem, none, zero, nada.

For the most part, the media is a bunch of sheep just following the PC line of "reporting" the "antis" like to flant.

Little or no fact in what they report, and they/we are far more likely to be killed in our car today, then to be harmed during our boolit mak'in process.

My turn at having the "safety" program one time, so I did a series of slides showing black powder and smokless powder burning, plus some other imformative images, then gave my speal about the false dangers of such things as flying boolits from "cooked off" ammo etc.

When I told them I could take a large cardboard box, cook off a bunch of ammo inside the box and none of the pieces would ever leave the box, they didn't have much to say.

Buy the way, back about 50 years ago +, cooked off enough ammo to have a pretty good idea of just what happens. Unless the ammo was somehow contained in a tube or "barrel" the boolit will barely make it away from the casing.

You are in far more danger from the primer or pieces of the brass.

Not to say the ammo won't make a whale of a bang/explosion - given enough it could really disrupt the surroundings, - when it goes off, but there is very limited danger from flying boolits.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[max it]

Hi Guys and Gals,
I did the lead level test and got a 17 back.
Normal is up to 10.
Dr. reports it to state :-( OSHA who wants to know where I got it.
I dont tell them anything; research tells me that they believe 25 is threshold of dangerous, true to form they are at the 1/2 way mark. 50 is dangerous. you can tell by coughing regularly and blurring of the eyes.

do the research, the truth is out there on the web.

anyway following week the State calls my Dr again. This time i have Dr. say it is not work related and I am not giving them anymore info (ammunition for their misguided campaign).

Primers are principal source of lead; i shoot indoors as well as outdoors. I am not telling anyone which range as I dont want a witch hunt. The range has blowers, i bet that they dont get it all.
As for casting and loading, and smelting too, I stopped doing it indoors (well the loading is in garage) and I mostly stopped drinking cheap whiskey and eating at the same time as i smelt, cast, and load. I have masks and gloves but they are a pain. Only polycarbonite glasses are de Rigueur! I had the lead blow up in the casting pot from a smidgen of moisture once. I dont want that to happen again. I am already a one eyed Jack and wild.
Max

[357maximum]

I have had mine checked several times and it has never been above 3 and I am by no means a surgical caster.............I quite often commit a cardinal sin when casting but I think the camel will get me before the lead does.

[greg1]

I had my lead level checked also. I started smelting and casting in Nov. 09. Mine is a 3 and I am pretty careless. I don't know what it was before I started but they told me the upper limit is 19. Anyway it's gotten too hot to do much smelting now so I will just load and shoot what I have already cast.

I was an electronic tech. by trade and soldered for many years. I guess I got some of it that way.

[357maximum]

I read it or heard it somewhere that the average big city dweller has about 9 to 11 PPM lead..just from their environment.

[mold maker]

I've had mine checked almost ever year for the last 12-15. Every test came back very low. Dr. said the normal # for this area is 2-4, and mine is 1-2. We get lead from plumbing and normal background environment.
Folks my age grew up in a lead painted world. Most all gas was leaded, and many water lines were made of lead. We played with toys cast from lead, and we (that are alive) survived in-spite of it.
You can take simple precautions and avoid any harm from the lead we handle. Its not rocket science, just common sense.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I understand that a big potential source of Lead getting into your blood is from the dust generated by dry tumble cleaning fired rifle and pistol Brass with primer intact. I now add liquid car wax with brass polish to my corn cob media. I don't have a dust problem anymore from tumbling. I assume there is some Lead in that Dust (from the primer).
Jon

[zomby woof]

I think I am in Love even thought shes almost half my age.

Another plus is, she should have smaller fingers.

[DCP]

Another plus is, she should have smaller fingers.

Yes Yes Yes

I am not going to say I am looking foward to having it done. But I will not be so uptight either. Men Drs are such animals, at least mine was. I told him so, and he says women Drs hands are to small and he hold up his hand and wiggles his longggggg fingers and smiles. He was a great Dr though

[Shooter6br]

the EPA should listen instead of always demonizing lead and even CO2

[mtgrs737]

Another plus is, she should have smaller fingers.

LOL! It is also easier to take medical abuse from a younger gal than an old gray doc! :p

[fecmech]

A couple years ago I had my lead levels tested in the spring of the year and had been shooting indoors a fair amount, it came back at 19. Checked it the following year in the fall while still doing everything the same (casting, smelting, etc) but no indoor shooting and it came back as 7. Indoor ranges are a big culprit IMO.

[7of7]

Just got the results back from my lead test... 8...
I do wash my hands before eating,.. normally, and that is about it.. I still have something to drink while I am casting, swaging, and all...

[max it]

I understand that a big potential source of Lead getting into your blood is from the dust generated by dry tumble cleaning fired rifle and pistol Brass with primer intact. I now add liquid car wax with brass polish to my corn cob media. I don't have a dust problem anymore from tumbling. I assume there is some Lead in that Dust (from the primer).
Jon

Wow Jon,
That's exactly it. Much obliged for posting.:bigsmyl2:

Max

[GrizzLeeBear]

Max, fecmech, I also had mine checked a couple years ago after shooting indoor bullseye pistol for a few years. It was up close to 20 like yours. OSHA sent me a voluntary survey letter also, wanting to know where I worked, etc. I work at a construction company that also is a design/build firm as a drafting tech. Since I work in an office, I know the lead was coming from the indoor shooting and didn't think the company would appreciate OSHA comming in snooping around for "lead hazards", so I didn't send the survey back. I quit shooting bullseye that year (but not because of the lead issue) so I'm sure my level has gone down like yours, but I haven't had it rechecked yet.
But I am definitely begining to see a pattern here. All of the ranges I shot in had what seemed to be good ventilation systems. I'm wondering if it's not just the lead in the air from all the primers, but the lead that falls out of the air onto every surface in the range and gets touched, walked on and stirred up, ect. that is just as much of an exposure hazard.

[Fugowii]

I read it or heard it somewhere that the average big city dweller has about 9 to 11 PPM lead..just from their environment.

I'm in a suburb next to a major urban area and mine comes in at 7. I have had it tested
the last two years and it hasn't changed so I'm guessing that is the background level in
the area. I'm somewhat careful around the lead, washing my hands, etc. I've probably
inhaled more lead from sanding lead paint that I ever have working with lead boolits.