Blood Test for Lead.

[pistolman44]

Just got the results back from a blood test I had and had the lead test addded. It was ok. Good to go now knowing it was ok. I think everyone that melts lead should have this done at least yearly. I just smelted 5 full 5 gallon buckets of range lead. This was the most I have done lately. I was a little worried until I had the test done. The owner of the range called me the other day and said he had 3 more buckets. I told him to sell it to someone else, too much fine dirt mixed in bucket. Have to screen it out first. I'll stick to WW, easier.

[sargenv]

I just had mine checked recently.. I had him check me for Lead and arsenic.. both came back as a 4. He said that for California, 30 was the max.. and the 4 is in line with most people.

[686]

nevet turn down lead. the dirt will come to the top.

[509thsfs]

Had my annual physical yeaterday. Told the Doc that since they are leeching me for about a quart of blood to test for everything else, check for lead too. Told him I wanted to at least establish a baseline to check against over time. He agreed. will know in a cpl weeks when results get back.

[twidpa]

I had mine checked last year and it was almost non existant. The doc said some folks process heavy metals better than others. That may be the most healthy attribute of my body. I have been actively involved in weekly shooting for 25 years including lots of indoor shooting at a nasty facility and casting/ reloading. I know of two others shooters with similar experience, one with lot less time and one a lot more, who have had to take measures to help the bodies lead removal process and reduce lead intake.
T

[SciFiJim]

I had my lead level checked on my last physical. The vampires draw blood for lead levels so infrequently that two came in because they thought they would have to hold down a child to get the blood. Neither had ever drawn blood from an adult for lead levels before.

The level was 3.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

What does the Doc charge for a blood test for Lead ?
I have no Med. Ins.
Jon

[KYCaster]

What does the Doc charge for a blood test for Lead ?
I have no Med. Ins.
Jon



It adds about twenty bucks when I have it done at the same time as the other tests I have done annually. Don't know what it would cost if that was the only thing tested.

Jerry

[509thsfs]

Got my results the other day. Count was 4. Anything under 40 is not a problem. Side note is my Doc said I was the 1st person t ever ask him for a lead test.

[gunsmokeray]

My doc's lab wanted $370.

[ebg3]

Had mine checked two months ago and it came back as a 12...alittle higher than I want to see but not too bad considering the amount of cast boolits I was shooting. I don't think the casting is as bad as the shooting and breathing the smoke. In NC I think anything number that comes back in the teens or higher has to be reported to the Health Dept. Not sure if there is an age factor.

[96wa6]

I have an elevated level. They thought it was because I shoot a lot of Bullseye, inhaling smoke. It might add to it, but it might have something to do with casting musket balls in my basement without venting and eating a ham sandwich at the same time when I was 14. No one ever told me about the perils. Now my doc thinks it's in my bones, so it leeches out very slowly. I now shoot only in well vented ranges and wear rubber gloves when I reload and other gloves when I cast. No matter what I do, my level has been decreasing a little more every year. Started at 22.6 milligrams per decaliter on '03, now down to 16.1 mg/d. (Docs say 40 mg/d is acceptable for adults, but that sounds bad.)

Be careful. Ain't gonna hurt an old guy like me who lived through the '60s and '70s, but would be seriously bad for little ones.

M.

[fcvan]

I often wondered as a kid what my level would have been if tested. I used to cast and load a lot with my Dad back then. I cast and load a heck of a lot more now than I did back then. I just remember in my teens having Dad telling me I had lead in my butt whenever I was supposed to mow the lawn . . .

[Ervin]

I have been handling & melting lead for about 50 years. For the first 25 years or so I wasn't very careful about safe handling. Since I am now on medicare (i.e. you paid for it) I decided to have the test. Came back "normal".
Ervin

[Shooter6br]

rule number one which i sometimes forget.WASH YOU HANDS. I am an RN and this is our No 1 rule to prevent infection.I would bet you get more lead exposure for Chicom imported toys etc then from casting.As in the medical field if i get a patient with a known infection I feel better than being in the supermarket and exposed to who knows what. All medical personnel use "Universal precautions" Wear protective equipment as if everyone is infectious. "To be fore warned is io be fore armed" Natural supplements claim to detox you liver Thistle has been used for centuries, Just a thought

[Freightman]

rule number one which i sometimes forget.WASH YOU HANDS.
That is the first rule to be healthy period!

[jsizemore]

That is the first rule to be healthy period!

And quit teasing the pitbull!

[sleeper1428]

I've been casting boolits for over 25 years, the last 15 in the garage with a door open and a fan directing fumes toward the door. Recently, when having blood work done for my annual physical, I asked my internist to do a lead level and got the same response that someone else noted, specifically, that I was the first person to ever ask to have their lead level checked. At the lab I also had much the same response, namely that it took three (3) techs several minutes of paging through their manuals to come up with the proper blood tubes for performing lead level analysis, an obviously rare request.

Best thing was that my level came back at <2 which would seem to indicate that my less than elegant ventilation methods are working just fine. I should note that I have always done all initial smelting of WW and alloying of casting alloy outside, usually on days that are somewhat breezy so that fumes arising from the smelting are quickly carried away. And considering the fact that I'm now nearly 73, I don't think I'll worry too much about having any further lead level analysis done.

sleeper1428

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I started to work for the phone company in 1956, as a central office installer. The first thing they teach you to do after you learn the color code of cable is to solder connections. I spent many years At North American Aviation soldering switch board jacks. We would fan the wires out into a wiring loom, strip the ends and solder them to the jacks. The jacks being what the operaters plugged into to answer or place a call . We woud be bent over those looms for days doing that work and breathing those fumes. The fumes had a sweet acrid oder. I never thought that it might be harmful. I started casting in 1959 and I have breated a lot of those fumes also. As far as I know I have never been checked for levels of heavy metals. Maybe I will tell Kaiser the next time I get a blood test . I have made it to 76, with as far as I know, no ill affects.

[mold maker]

The way lead gets into your body is through the nose and mouth. The dust involved in smelting can easily be inhaled as you discard the dross. The dirt off all oxidised lead that you handle is headed straight for your mouth if ya don't wash first.
Simple common sense remedies are sufficient to protect you.
Don't breath the smoke and dust, and wash your hands before touching anything going near your mouth. That includes not wiping your face with your sleeve, or glove.
I've cast since the early 60s, and lead levels have never been over 5. Doc says 0-20 is considered normal for folks living here. There is a natural lead level from back ground in the environment, that you can't avoid. Some folks are naturally more susceptible to lead, or their body doesn't get rid of it as fast.