Lead Level in Blood - What's Acceptable?

[Three Foot Johnson]

I was employed in a lead smelter for nearly 26 years, and early on, blood lead levels above 50 were VERY common. As the years went by, OSHA set more and more restrictive levels, and toward the end I was spending half the year on in-plant medical removal. In all those years, I was NEVER below 25. Some people are also much more susceptible than others.

[Max Payne]

I started taking the Hawiian Spirulina after reading this thread, & I'm much more concious about snacks & drinks while shooting. I've already used coated bullets & worn gloves while reloading for years. Harbor Freight doubled their gloves prices, but I found some on Amazon & ordered a thousand.

[Scarlett]

On 7/10/2020 at 3:41 PM, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

 

GunShotResidue is airborne.   Very finely divided lead oxides and carbonates.   Easily inhaled, and lungs are an easy way for lead to get into body quickly.  Also the finest lead particulate from target splatter goes airborne.  Look closely at shotgun targets as they are shot, and you see a fine gray cloud around them for a few seconds after the impacts.  

 

And, GSR is removed from fired cases by any brass cleaning technique.   If vibrating, it's in the media unless you take extra steps to capture it.  If wet tumbling, it's in the liquid.   If not cleaning your brass, then it's still sticking outside and inside the fired cases when you load them.

 

Lead bullets don't create airborne lead - very hard to get metallic lead into body (unless it was shot at high speed).  A small amount of lead COULD be transferred from fingers to mouth to stomach if you don't wash hands. (where stomach acid dissolves the lead, and dumps it into your blood stream).   Casting bullets creates VERY little airborne lead - the liquid lead alloy is never hot enough to generate vapor of any significant amount, so if you take care with the casting dross and dispose of it carefully, there's little contamination.

 

Unfired primers - folks don't handle them directly much anymore with primer flippers and feed tubes on loaders.  Really a minimal path for lead contamination.

 

Concentrate on the pathways that are prevalent and possible to intake into the body.   Then control those exposures.    

 

Good luck, and good handling habits, GJ

 

 

 

You are right on the money! I cast for 5 years 4 days a week and NEVER wore gloves...however, I washed my hands A LOT with Lead Remover (amazon - think it is called Lead All Remover) and and wore a mask EVERY TIME - EVERY TIME I handled dirty brass, tumbled and sorted... I also shot minimum of three weekends per month, ran the timer, etc... and my lead level NEVER got above 12...it was 9 when I started.  HYGIENE, HYGIENE HYGIENE!!  Wash your hands before you eat, drink, smoke, touch eyes, nose, mouth.  Also, DO NOT LICK YOUR EARPLUGS!  You are handling your ear plugs with dirty hands and then sticking them in your mouth! ICK! 

 

Big hugs!

Scarlett

[bgavin]

Our mentor at our club did a lot of TO and his lead was sky high.
He has since brought it down a whole lot since then.

I asked our doctor to run a full lead panel on me last year.
The lab FREAKED out and demanded OSHA paperwork, blah, blah, blah.. until the doc said it was for "hobby" and not "work related."
Shoot first, ask questions later...

[Major Bill]

In 2017 mine was 22, year later was 8 after changing my handling, gloves loading and cleaning, wet cleaning, wash before I eat and shower as soon as I get home. Then up-to  9 in 2019, then up to 12 March this year. Will start using D-Lead soap. chelation agents Was used to remove heavy metal from the blood. EDTA treatment is expensive and not covered by insurance.  It Also opens up the arteries. But need calcium replacement.  Over the counter chelation Agent not approved in USA.

 

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

I didn’t want to freak anyone out so I told my doctor I’d been helping someone cast fishing weights (which I’d actually done 50 or so years ago) and asked to include lead test in my annual blood work. My level was fine and no needless panic by medicos. 
 

Seamus

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

The first time I had my blood tested in 2017 it came in at 11.9. The state considers anything over 10 to be excessive, so I got a routine notice from the state about my elevated level. According to the state, a level of 1.2 is normal in adults.

 

For a while I was wearing rubber gloves when handling bullets for reloading, but I did not like the lack of the feeling of touch using rubber gloves.

 

When I had my blood tested a year later the lead level was down slightly, but not much. I suspect most of my contact with lead comes from Trapshooting every week. Lead gets deposited on the surface of everything, including my shotgun.

 

I no longer cast my own bullets.

 

A friend recommended a product called LeadOff made by Hygenall. It is a soap that removes heavy metals. My friend was religious about using LeadOff each and every time he was in contact with lead, and got his lead count down to next to nothing. I have not been quite so religious as my friend and I suspect my lead count has not gone down very much.

 

Have not head my blood tested yet for a while. I expect I will have a physical in the fall and will have it tested again.

 

Clearly, do not eat or drink anything after handling lead. And it is best to wash with cold water, not hot. Hot water opens the pores and more lead will be absorbed through the skin.