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Elevated lead levels in new/young(ish) shooter


C.N. Double

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I don't let my 9 and 13 year old pick up brass or reset shotgun targets for exactly that reason.  They spot, keep score and sometimes man the unloading table (mainly the 13 year old) but that's it.  Sharyn and I hustle to make up for that.   In fact, I got the stink eye from a shooter last month when he mentioned they should be picking up brass and I said no I didn't want them exposed to the lead.  It didn't bother me, they're my kids and I'll take the precautions I think are needed to protect them.

 

Thanks for the gloves in a bottle info, I'm going to order some.  If you don't mind what's the name of the lead removal soap for the clothes? 

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Just a suggestion after 18 years of reloading commercially and casting all my own bullets used.

 

Be careful on what your doctor says.

If they quote CDC stats, know that these stats are for children 12 years of age and under.

If you want to know what the adult levels are look for OSHA information for work place blood lead levels.

OSHA is not concerned until you get up above 35.

After 50 OSHA gets very demanding on what you can and can't do.

Around 40 you get advised on what you can do to start lowering the number.

 

Also be careful about looking for some sort of medical drug to remove lead.

Most will but some require you to completely remove your self from the lead environment for 3 to 5 years because the drug makes you more susceptible to absorbing lead. 

My doctor after I asked for a blood lead test turned me in to the Health department and we went around and around until I got OSHA involved and OHSA bacically told the health department they didn't know what they were reading and it referred to children under 12.

The letters stop coming and the phone calls stopped from the health department.

 ============

Wash your hand often.

Did not eat, smoke or [put anything in your mouth until your wash.

Don't even talk on the phone.

 

I used vibrator tumblers in the shop.

They ran 3 hours every day (3 tumblers)

I used the Turtle Was Polishing compound which kept the media damp. (not dust)

 

I put my tumbles on a power strip that has a commercial type timer that I set for 3 hours.

As I let the shop at the end of the day, I turned the timer on and closed up the shop.

 

After 18 years or reloading, I never had a blood level over 18 and most of the time it was about 12-13.

 

End of day, leave work shoes on back porch.

Take off shirt and go directly to the shower.

I have my own work towel that NO used but me after being in the shop.

This towel wash hand washed in a bucket out in the shop and hung on the fence to dry. (never in the washing mashing)

 

If your kids are under 12 years old, Might want to have them not be in the loading area.

Also, more lead is transferred during gun cleaning.

Some one above said that the gun cleaning liquid makes the skin more likely to absorb the lead it removes.

This is very true.

 

Throw away gloves are a good idea for cleaning.

 

During my years of reloading and casting, I never wore gloves.

I did to clean guns.

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Captain Bill Burt said:

what's the name of the lead removal soap for the clothes

D-Lead is the most common brand but the one we are using is Clean-all because it is cheaper... 

http://www.buycleanall.com/index.aspx

It is only $15 per gallon plus shipping. It is a liquid and made as a hand and body soap which we use it for that too. But on their website they tell you how to use it for clothing. Just add a little in addition to your regular laundry detergent and do an additional rinse. 

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Thanks for resurrecting this thread -- more great info. Since I initially started this topic, I've made a few changes to my habits:

- wear disposable gloves to clean guns, sort brass, reload, and do any sort of handling with the dry tumbler or media.

- wear P100 respirator while handling tumbler or media.

- avoid going out into the garage while tumbler is running (I do maybe 3 batches a month for 3 hours at a time). Tumbler does have a cover.

- sweep up garage after every tumble or reloading session.

- supplement diet with spirulina, but not every day. I might do 2-3tsp a week.

- wipe down my truck interior (wheel, shifter, door handles, etc.) with lead-off wipes after a shoot, and I wipe anything I might touch while handling guns/ammo/reloading stuff (garage door handles, bench, phone, etc.).

 

These are the main changes I've made. I felt my other habits were already pretty good (washing hands/clothes). I expect to get my lead level re-checked next month, so I'll report back with the results.

 

Thanks again to all the pards contributing to this thread.

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I know of a club here in California when they have a major shoot they remove all the ropes from the shot gun targets and the shooters have to walk out and pull up those lead dust covered targets up by hand? the worst kind of lead contamination is lead dust! I could not believe they where putting the shooters at that kind of risk? 

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I'm glad to see this post floating up for comment again. Controlling blood-lead levels (BLL) is very important, and as many folks have pointed out, the actual acceptable BLL is a moving target from 5 to 40 depending on who is stating the numbers and what the age of the individual is. In my original comment to this post (Dec 11, 2018) I mentioned that I knew of several folks who take Spirulina (specifically the Hawaiian version) and have reduced their BLL. While the word "several" is vague, I have been monitoring them more closely for another study I am doing, and now know of 14 folks I shoot with ALL of who have reduced their BLL to under 10 just from taking Spirulina, and three of these shooters had BLLs in excess of 20!

 

Yes, a lot of lead particular is in the air when you open a dry tumbler, but the greatest density of lead particulate that we readily breathe is in a 4' to 5' sphere around your face when you are shooting. Below is a photo of the brim of one of my hats - the darkish area is lead and the red swab I am holding is a lead test kit that instantly turned bright red (indication of lead). The brim of our hat is only a short distance from our nose. And, as most have mentioned, the situation worsens for folks who run the clock for several shooters at a time.

 

There's a free white paper you can read on our web site - www.PRVCatLazyArrow.com - under "Documents/Papers" if you are interested in learning more about BLL.

 

Breathe safely...

RR

Brim of hat.jpg

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I will report mine once they get done again.  After this came out I started on the Hawai'ian spirulina, one a day.

 

Also, I have to admit that setting shotgun targets by hand is probably a real bad idea.  The Cowboy part of the club uses ropes (of course the ropes are probably contaminated as heck and get wound up and unwound).  The Wild Bunch side though never uses ropes.  Guess going to think about bringing this up or just taking gloves with me.

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for folks that use the dry tumble method of cleaning brass. You will reduce the lead exposure from cleaned by washing your brass after it has been tumbled. Just use plain water and dish detergent. you will have much less lead exposure when you are reloading.

kR

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Capt Bill Burt... Yes, a BLL of 36mcg/dl (micrograms per deciliter) is high and as I pointed out earlier, the acceptable levels vary with organization and age groups. The California Dept of Health considers anything higher than 5mcg/dl in children to be dangerous. For adults, the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services considers anything above 10mcg/dl to be dangerous. By comparison OSHA allows workers who have been removed from lead exposure to return to work when their BLL falls below 40mcg/dl.

 

The tricky thing here is defining precisely what the "dangerous" levels do, and doctors and neurologists I have spoken to offer a pretty varied response from gastro-intestinal problems (diarrhea, nausea, constipation, abdominal pain), to central nervous system problems (hearing loss, reduced attention span, fatigue, hysteria, seizures, etc.). None of the several professionals I have spoke to agree on any one or two specific ailments and this is somewhat troubling, making it difficult to know if the "P" you got that day came from raised BLL or from the bad pancakes you had that morning.

 

RR

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On 12/10/2018 at 1:16 PM, C.N. Double said:

haven't been, but that is part of the plan. I'll start wearing the respirator any time I'm messing with the tumbler or sorting brass.

If you are loading shotshell, be really careful to wear protection.  The dropping of shot into each case sends up an invisible lead dust cloud, as does filling of the shot reservoir on the loader.  Shot pellets in the bags or containers are constancy rubbing and wearing against each other, creating ultra-fine dust. 

The same applies to new boxes of lead bullets.  Make sure you are protected when you open the boxes and when dumping them into the bullet tray (or bullet feeder, if you're lucky enough to have one).   Dispose of the boxes immediately and DO NOT reuse them for anything.  Wash your hands immediately after handling bulk lead products of any kind. 

 

I'm considering installing a hood over my metallic and shotshell reloading equipment.  It would be an inexpensive way to greatly cut down dust exposure.  The downside will be the added noise, over and above that from the  case feeder.  So a set of earphones might be needed too. 

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On 12/14/2018 at 10:14 AM, Dutch Nichols, SASS #6461 said:

and don't touch your nose or lips while reloading, shooting, or gun cleaning!!

Also, don't touch or rub your eyes.  Your eyes and the wet membranes around them are a prime source of lead (also germ) entry to your body and/or bloodstream.  

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Anything you do on the range with fingers is probably bad.

Setting steel.

Picking up brass.

 

Now somebody comes around with a container of cookies. Guess who used to be first in line. Yeah, me. Now I don't even have one. You might as well suck on a bullet.:P

 

Anyhow I now wash at the range with DLead soap and cold water before eating. 

 

Anyhow, I do sometimes wonder how much lead is in my mustache.

 

Waimea

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Guest Texas jack Black SASS#9362
6 minutes ago, Waimea said:

Anything you do on the range with fingers is probably bad.

Setting steel.

Picking up brass.

 

Now somebody comes around with a container of cookies. Guess who used to be first in line. Yeah, me. Now I don't even have one. You might as well suck on a bullet.:P

 

Anyhow I now wash at the range with DLead soap and cold water before eating. 

 

Anyhow, I do sometimes wonder how much lead is in my mustache.

 

Waimea

 I think you mean pencil:D

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