Best Practices to avoid lead poisoning when casting

[missionary5155]

Never touch any part of your head.

[AlaskaMike]

Most folks so far have said what they've done to avoid any health issues. I'll take a different approach and mention what I did that resulted in my one occurrance of elevated blood lead level in about 20 years.

At the time I'd been casting for about 5 years and was melting down wheel weights into ingots outside in the driveway. As you can imagine, with a bunch of dead leaves, chew spit and other debris burning off, there was a fair amount of smoke. While I stayed upwind of the smoke, I was lax enough to be drinking a cup of coffee during this session.

Up until this point I had my blood tested at every annual checkup, with my numbers hovering between 3-5 micrograms/dL. My next test following that melting session, I was somewhere between 10 and 15 (I can't recall the exact number).

I wash my hands very well after every melting session, and the only unique thing about this particular one was that I was drinking a cup of coffee. So the advice to not eat, drink, smoke, etc while you're casting or melting lead into ingots is spot on.

In talking with my doctor about that one elevated blood test, he said there's no immediate danger or health risks, which is why OSHA doesn't get upset until your levels are 20+. However, there can be long term issues with levels between 10-20.

[HWooldridge]

I've operated an active blacksmithing business on the side for 40 years - which is another great way to ruin your lungs. However, I simply don't like inhaling any kind of smoke (from any source), so I have very good ventilation in my shop for casting or any other process that makes fumes/smoke/dust. I generally wear a dust mask in addition to providing forced air and find that also helps with preventing particulate inhalation.

With that said, I had an MRI body scan a few years ago and the tech said he could see some metallic dust in my upper bronchial tract - so many of us may be getting at least a minor dose of whatever we are doing for jobs and/or hobbies. IMHO, anyone who makes air float charcoal for BP use should wear a pollen mask at minimum because that stuff goes everywhere and is easily inhaled.

[gc45]

Never listen to the doctors or teachers, they will just ruin life's pleasures for you. And remember, they are Liberals having little interest in you having fun or freedom! After casting in my shop with the large doors open and for 50 yrs or more my doc says my lungs are just fine not seeing any issues at all. He then scolds me on the danger of lead and lead casting telling me to consider quitting, go figure.

[oley55]

A little common sense goes a long way. The fear of the liberal boogeyman will get you if you listen to all the hype. Case in point as an FAA ATC manager I sat through a thorough briefing on proposed remodeling and asbestosis mitigation in our 1967 tower building. After all of the formal briefings I had an informal discussion with the industrial hygienist. He said in the history of the whole asbestosis cottage industry there was not a single case EVER of a person developing asbestoses who was not a smoker. Understand these are cases of occupational exposure. The reality was/is unless you worked with asbestos every day in your job and were a smoker it's not harmful. So the billions spent to remove asbestos from dwellings was/is a scam.

Sure we are talking heavy metal lead exposure and not asbestos, but the hype and BS all comes from the same legal industry.

[justindad]

I cast in my shed with a stove fan blowing out a window for ventilation. I wear a respirator (3M P100 is technically best, but I feel like I get more oxygen when I wear a P95). I wear welding gloves while I cast. I wash my clothes (except the gloves, which stay in the locked shed) and hop in the shower immediately after I finish casting. Two years into casting my lead blood levels were at 4, which is on the low side for children.
*
Drink orange juice and eat spirulina to clean lead out of your body.

[awayne]

Wear gloves and don’t lick your fingers while casting 🤷*♂️🤣

[HWooldridge]

A little common sense goes a long way. The fear of the liberal boogeyman will get you if you listen to all the hype. Case in point as an FAA ATC manager I sat through a thorough briefing on proposed remodeling and asbestosis mitigation in our 1967 tower building. After all of the formal briefings I had an informal discussion with the industrial hygienist. He said in the history of the whole asbestosis cottage industry there was not a single case EVER of a person developing asbestoses who was not a smoker. Understand these are cases of occupational exposure. The reality was/is unless you worked with asbestos every day in your job and were a smoker it's not harmful. So the billions spent to remove asbestos from dwellings was/is a scam.

Sure we are talking heavy metal lead exposure and not asbestos, but the hype and BS all comes from the same legal industry.

Funny you mention smoking...I went in for an MRI a few years ago and got to talking with the technician. In his experience, people who engaged in work or hobbies where there was ambient smoke, were many times more likely to develop cancer if they also smoked cigarettes. This was obviously just one man's opinion and not a study - but his claim was that the combination of smoking and exposure to other airborne pollutants was exponentially more dangerous than either by itself. His opinion was that although smoking was bad, adding another hazard to it drove the cancer risk to a very high rate.

[Retumbo]

90% of lead enters through your mouth.

Wash your hands.
Keep bugger hooks out of nose and mouth.
Don't smoke or eat.

[BJung]

Thanks for your input. I'm sure new casters will appreciate it. One important indicator to lead hazard is bullet casters. You're all still alive and haven't mentioned serious issues that a Liberal would mention. Fortunately, there is rain expected and a breeze. When the rain pours, I cast.

[Gator 45/70]

Dump the lead in a pot, run,come back in 30 minutes,stir the pot, dump in more lead and run again. Always do this outside and never at dark as even a mosquito hitting the mix will get you a nice pop of hot lead.

[Froogal]

I do the smelting of range scrap outdoors, or in my shop with doors open if it's too cold to be outside. Range scrap usually has a lot of dirt, grass, etc. that can make a lot of smoke. I do the casting at the work bench in the basement where it is warm in the winter. A bathroom exhaust fan takes care of any smoke, but very seldom is there any. I do not wear a respiratory mask or any kind of gloves.

[elmacgyver0]

I think back to growing up on the farm.
At the end of the day, we would grease the machinery, our hands would get dirty black grease on them about impossible to get off.
We would go to the gas tank, (big oval shaped tank, mounted on a stand) and wash our hands with gasoline.
Back in those days the gas contained lead.
I guess I should have been dead a long time ago.
When I'm paranoid about something, I don't do it.
If I were worried about ingesting lead while casting, I would not cast and just buy my ammunition.
I now know better than to be cavalier about handling lead, but on the other hand I don't lose any sleep over it either.

[Rickf1985]

And if you got a cut you also washed it out in the dirty gas pan, WITH the leaded gas. Yup, grew up on the same farms.

[steveu]

I wash with D-lead soap after handling lead or moly. It seems to work for me. I found it a a local hardware store.

[Rickf1985]

I am curious. What makes D-lead any different than dawn dish soap or ivory bar soap? Soap has surfactants that loosen and lift dirt from items so it can be washed away. If D-lead has extra chemicals in it then how is that good for you?

[imashooter2]

I am curious. What makes D-lead any different than dawn dish soap or ivory bar soap? Soap has surfactants that loosen and lift dirt from items so it can be washed away. If D-lead has extra chemicals in it then how is that good for you?

This is what they claim. I haven’t verified it in any way.

“ Regular soaps are great for cleaning off dirt and grease, but they don’t quite cut it when it comes to lead and heavy metals. Heavy metals have a sticky, static charge that holds them to surfaces like skin. Most soaps don’t break this bond, instead, just smearing the metals around rather than pulling it off the skin. D-Lead Hand & Body Soap breaks the static bond and lift the particles up off the surface, allowing water to rinse it away. In tests, D-Lead Hand Soap have been shown to remove about 99% of lead from skin, while regular soaps only remove around 70%. As the lead is removed, it is also altered by the solution to be easier for wastewater treatment facilities to remove, so there’s no quarrels about washing that lead down the drain.”

[Rickf1985]

They were doing good until that last statement where it say the lead is altered to be easier for wastewater plants. That was the red flag that shows it is all BS marketing. Lead is a base element and it cannot be altered into anything else. And lead is a lubricant so it is not sticky and static is pretty much moot in water isn't it?

[fatelk]

If your doctor tells you you are in danger because your blood levels are 10 µg/dL, find another doctor that actually knows what lead poisoning in adults is.

I just had an annual physical, with a blood test. My lead level was 5. The doctor said we should talk about that, because a "normal" blood lead level was under 3.5. I guess "normal" keeps changing.

[imashooter2]

I just had an annual physical, with a blood test. My lead level was 5. The doctor said we should talk about that, because a "normal" blood lead level was under 3.5. I guess "normal" keeps changing.

Doctors are skilled contractors, no different than the guy that pours your concrete. It doesn’t bother me to have the exact same I’m not paying you to ******** me discussion with either one of them.