Are you poisoned? The lead blood levels poll...

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

A voice of reason in a jungle of PC idiocy. My God we played with lead pellets/bullets, sinkers ect., ect., even had mercury available back in those long ago days. Dissected frogs in biology class saturated in formaldehyde, and thru all this we managed to keep enough brains to put a man on the moon, and build all the technology we have today?

Wonder how all this happened?

I remember as a kid (Amazing I can even remember anything today!) biting the lead sinkers to make them tight on the line, yes putting lead in my mouth, and biting down hard!

But my memory is going, can't see as good as I use to, can't remember very well, eye sight not as good as it use too . . . oh, and I can't remember all the other things . . .

Probably has more to do with my "visit" with three punko's that assaulted me and knocked me unconscious than any lead poisoning!

Just more government interference, IMO!

[Lead pot]

I just had a lead test taken last Friday and mine is at 8.
I'm a retired plumber and a lot of my working time was working with heavy lead joints caulking lead joints in open and close confined spaces at times you could look at the 30 pound lead pot cooking on the furnace and it would be red. This went on for 35 years and my lead count was never over 10.
My high counts were more form eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with out washing my hands before eating.
Now I cast about 4000 bullets every year in my basement under a vent hood and my lead count I got results for yesterday was 7.

[dsmjon]

Lead doesn't absorb through skin easily, I think the warnings of not smoking/eating are useless. If someone is stupid enough to EAT lead, well... don't tell the Democrats, they already have enough people to save themselves from themselves.

Lead exposure doesn't bother me nearly as much as all the RF energy we are constantly bombarded with. I'm glad my copper mesh lined Ti/Al/Pb helmet comes in soon!

[Lead pot]

Even being a plumber a lot of times there was no water on the job to wash before eating. And the lead pot cooking in confined spaces with out cross ventilation and the lead getting very hot a lot hotter than a lead pot used for casting bullets.
I'm not saying lead wont hurt you, it will and some will get hurt more than others.
By the Way a tin foil aht will also do a good job for people on cell phones too.

[plumber]

What I do at work scares my more than casting. Hell, shooting indoors is worse. Asbestos scares me, PVC solvent freaks me out!!

[odoh]

Dad was a plumber for >50yrs. Before that, in elementary school, he and most of the other guys chewed lead (circa late 1920's) no, the lead wasn't different then, they just didn't know any better like we school kids in the early 1950s chewed tar.

[fecmech]

I just got my results back today and they are 5.4 . I had the test done last spring after shooting at an indoor range for the most part of the winter and it came back at 19 which is still OK. I've been casting loading and shooting the same for years so it appears to me that the only place I get lead is shooting indoors.

[WhiteHorse]

Hey gang.

Been lurking/reading a lot lately, but this may be my first actual post. I have been doing plenty of shooting, reloading, and casting over the years, so I started getting testing during my yearly physical. My personal level has risen from 2 to 3 to 4 over the past 3 years. Mind you, I do plenty of casting and primer pocket cleaning.

I do, however, keep my mouth shut while doing chores and I wash up using D-Lead soap. No worries.


-White Horse

[shooter58]

I'm new to this forum but not new to shooting & lead. I work in electronics, I solder at work and solder at home and have done so for over 40 years. I have been shooting since I was six or so. For the past 40 years I've been heavy into air guns and handle pure lead pellets all the time, shoot almost daily. I get tested once a year for lead exposure, and my highest result ever was 2, and below 40 is ok, they say. I wash my hands and don't eat the stuff, but I don't worry about it either. I plan to use an exhaust fan when casting. I have molds, etc. on the way, and have this most excellent forum to learn from. Life is good.

[JeffinNZ]

WHOA! Just got tested and came back at 61 so gotta take some action.

[splattersmith]

What about some input from those that died of lead poisoning. It would be illuminating. So far this thread is so one sided.

Or -- how many animal species have you heard died from eating lead bullets? Us humanoids have been shooting lead for - what - 6 or so centuries. You think we would have some statistics of gross extinctions.

[Tom B]

Here's what I know!
When I turned 17 and graduated from high school, the first job I had was as a Linotype operator. In the ensuing years I inhaled , wallowed in and generally practically ate and lived in lead until Linotype's were no longer available. Started in 1959 and the last time I was working Lino was 1985. Since I always cast bullets, I guess I should be dead. I have two children. One is a bank executive and the other a UPS delivery driver. So its not relevent to their intelligence. Might be to mine, but . . . that's up for debate.
I am now 68 and still a curmudgeney old guy who is very opinionated and
in my humble opinion all this stuff about lead is a scare tactic. I must admit I don't think I really ate that much, but who knows.

[TAWILDCATT]

back in the late 60s they brought out the children and lead so the 200 members of our club got tested,some were high as I was,but no one could tell how to lower it.I was about 45,never got treated and got tested a few yrs ago at 9.I am 85 1/2.
I think its time the moderater took this down.its 99% bull.I think the lead came from autos and washing parts in leaded gas.It nothing but scare tactics and urban ledgen,pushed by anti gunners.the NRA had a study done and found lead does NOT leach out of ranges.
SO PLEASE MODERATER GET RID OF THIS THREAD.TED

[Shiloh]

To quote Jocelyn Elders, Klinton's Surgeon General, "We'll probably all die of something."

I'll continue to cast, and continue to practice safety procedures for lead.

SHiloh

[Suo Gan]

Hitler at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt speaking with Wilhelm Frick circa 1934 (Another scenario)
Boss: "How many guuns are ot der Frick?"
Frick: "Gee boss, a vew hundret million anyvay."
Boss: "Holy smoke! How ve gunna git rit of zem all?"
Frick: "Ve vill confiscate zem all boss!"
Boss: "No stupit, tink...zat vuld probabzy mean ve vuld haf to kill some in zee process, zat might make zee rest mad! Zook at history! None of the zee revolutionz turned out too vell for zee ruling class... right!!?" Acts like finger is a knife and runs it across his throat, "FWWWWT!!!"
Frick: Looks pale, and wide eyed.
Boss: "Sink man, vee vill just make it zo zat zee lead iz zeen as evil! It makes kits go crazy, and lowers zee sperm count in men...zat vill get dem! Pretty zoon zey vill be begging us to take zis stuff off der hants!"
Frick: "Yeah!"
Boss: Smiling, "Get me zee het of the Environement Ovvice!!"

[Tazman1602]

To quote Jocelyn Elders, Klinton's Surgeon General, "We'll probably all die of something."

I'll continue to cast, and continue to practice safety procedures for lead.

SHiloh

Wasn't she the same one who thought we should teach masterbation in high school to the kids too? (seriously!). All I could think of at my age is "is they're so dumb they can't figure that out then we DO have a real problem".....................

[ebg3]

When I was pre-teen, we used to shoot pellet rifles every day. We sometimes carried a few lead pellets in our mouths for quick reloads!
I've been a USPSA shooter since 1997 and have shot well over 250,000 rounds at matches and in practice. For the first few years all I shot were cast .40 bullets and I can remember many times after shooting coughing and tasting the smoke from the lube/lead. Last year I asked to have levels checked and they came back as normal and unremarkable. Still, I am a little concerned about breathing in the smoke when I'm shooting...I try to keep my mouth closed and not to breath in when a big cloud of smoke hits me in the face. When casting, I keep a fan pulling air and I do it with the garage door open. It's cold this time of year but it keeps the smoke away.
EG

[AKsoldier]

I didn't have time to read through this whole thread, so my appologies if this is a repeat, but I thought it important to point out.

According to an article I read somewhere (can't remember where) There is actually a greater danger of lead poisoning from the media in case tumblers. Because of the lead residue in primers, if you don't change out your media often enough there can be a pretty high lead content built up in the media and it gets in the air, and on your hands when handling.

Since reading that article, I decided to use a mask while emptying my tumbler, and I change out the media about every 300 cases. And of course - I always wash my hands after handling the media. It's not all that expensive, and worth the peace of mind to me.

[imashooter2]

I didn't have time to read through this whole thread, so my appologies if this is a repeat, but I thought it important to point out.

According to an article I read somewhere (can't remember where) There is actually a greater danger of lead poisoning from the media in case tumblers. Because of the lead residue in primers, if you don't change out your media often enough there can be a pretty high lead content built up in the media and it gets in the air, and on your hands when handling.

Since reading that article, I decided to use a mask while emptying my tumbler, and I change out the media about every 300 cases. And of course - I always wash my hands after handling the media. It's not all that expensive, and worth the peace of mind to me.

Change the media after 300 cases? Heck, that's new media every time you turn on the tumbler!

[AKsoldier]

Change the media after 300 cases? Heck, that's new media every time you turn on the tumbler!

LOL, I'm a low volume loader with a small tumbler. I only run about 50 cases at a time for big rifle cartridges, or about a hundered of my 45 ACPs. With a larger tumbler I'm sure you could get away with a lot more between changes. This isn't any kind of published guideline either, just a number I set for my own use.