Blood lead levels

COLTIMPALA

COLTIMPALA

Yo homie... is that my briefcase?
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Curious how many other reloaders here have this drawn every so often. I had mine drawn a couple years back at the height of my reloading festivities, and the level was 2.3. redrawn this week and it's 3, despite not reloading anything in the past year probably. The normal limit on lead is 5, so I'm under the normal threshold. Anyway, enough about me. You guys ever get this drawn on your lab results?
 
I've seen a lot of talk about over at castboolits.gunloads.com in the past. Its been a while since I have been on that site so I dont know if they still have discussion on it.

Sounds like you may have some other environmental factors playing in your count.
 
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My Grandparents house was built in the 1930’s … lead paint, lead pipes, asbestos insulation, etc … when it as sold the abatement clauses were terrible. You got any type exposures to older buildings/facilities?
 
mine tested zero last year. I’m careful, but not paranoid.
 
NCFubar said:
My Grandparents house was built in the 1930’s … lead paint, lead pipes, asbestos insulation, etc … when it as sold the abatement clauses were terrible. You got any type exposures to older buildings/facilities?
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Nothing of the sort. New construction house, etc. Wife had her levels tested too which came back 0. Apparently ceramic tile contains lead. I did do a tile back splash using a wet saw the week before the lab draw. That's all I can think of. Haven't messed with any casting, reloading, etc otherwise.
 
Old indoor club range in MI had lousy ventilation - some of my fellow shooters tested high.

I have had blood drawn and been fine, not done it lately.
Not a bad idea but breathing in smoky range air is way way worse than merely touching bullets.

Be careful with empty cardboard boxes of lead bullets - dust tends to accumulate in the bottom.

I religiously use pumice hand cleaner followed by soap and water after every shop session.
Don't have food or drink, dip or vape etc near the loading bench. I won't even bother mentioning smoking . . . lead poisoning will then be the last thing that kills you.
 
I ask my doc to test for it yearly. It costs a few bucks since insurance doesn’t cover it.
When shooting police matches and a lot of Bullseye in the late 90s, my indoor range was a sheriff’s indoor range. One of the rangemasters tested high, then another got curious, and tested high. Everyone was told to get tested. My level was 7.0. I shot Bullseye using lead bullets exclusively, mostly indoor ranges in our Bullseye squad.
The range had airflow problems and was not high on the budget list. Fears of lawsuits fixed that.
I learned to wash my hands a lot, not eat during a match and switch to outdoor ranges. I also switched to jacketed bullets for .38 and .45 handloads for a year. It didn’t help that I worked around TetraEthyl Lead in an oil refinery. That stuff was outlawed in the 70s, but ground and groundwater contamination doesn’t just vanish.
Took three years to get below 1.0 on the pB concentration in my blood.
Tests run now show zero or close to it.
 
I shoot outdoors and don't cast. I asked my doctor about checking it and she said she wouldn't advise it unless I'm eating paint chips, basically.
 
Had mine checked at my annual 2 weeks ago. I’m right on the line with it coming at 4.9. Usually get it checked every couple years. Even through I’m not on the range nearly as much, I still like to keep it checked.


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I request it on my labs every couple years. Been shooting for 35 yrs and reloading hard for 15 or 20. Never reloaded or shot a lot of lead or shot much indoors.
 
Most of my exposure comes from shot game. I rarely get any bullets back but the few I have pulled from a carcass have lost quite a bit of lead (by weight) which I assume was left in the tissues surrounding the wound channel. I now carefully remove all bruised tissue and dispose of it (don't even give it to the dogs). Whole lead is not as dangerous as fine dust or vaporized form. Many walk around with bullets lodged in their bodies and do fine. In waterfowl it only takes a few pellets of lead shot to kill if it is ingested. That's because it is picked up as grit and ground down in a birds gizzard. Thus the reason that lead shot was banned for waterfowl hunting. I actually found some ducks many years ago that had ingested lead pellets and died. There was a lot of skeet shooting over a shallow pond and the birds had picked it up while feeding. I even published a short note on that investigation. So if you hunt be aware of the potential for lead ingestion even if you can't see it. Just don't consume the flesh near the wound channel.
 
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I've had the test a couple of times. I think the last time it was 1.0.

As I understand it, much (if not most) of the lead exposure is from the primer residue. Then there is the lead at the base of the bullet that is exposed to the flame front of the burning powder, which will cause some lead to sluff off of the bullet and into the air. Plated bullets, or hollow points (no exposed lead at the rear) and probably coated bullets will help. I shoot mostly plated bullets.

An indoor range should have good ventilation, with the air moving from the back of the shooters and down the shooting lanes. I quit going to one local indoor range due to the very poor ventilation (among other things). I will say that TSA has what I consider to be good ventilation.

I have processed and sold a bunch of brass, and I bet I have handled over 200k pieces. Sometimes I use gloves, other times I don't, but I ALWAYS wash my hands very well afterwards. I also wet-tumble my brass which keeps down the dust during the cleaning operation.

I don't cast (yet) but from what I understand that doesn't cause as much lead exposure as one might think. I may be wrong.
 
Had it done a couple times early on. Levels were normal over several tests, but varied, also normal. Doc quizzed me about it and advised against testing unless I had daily exposure or frequent poor ventilation.
 
I've wondered about mine. I shoot solely out door, but it's benchrest in stalls. I noticed after shooting about a hundred rounds, last time, I had black dust in my nostrils when I blew my nose. My compensator is throwing a lot of dust around. I also hand load everything so I'm certainly touching a lot of dirty stuff.

How do you go about getting a simple lead test?
 
clay_fv said:
How do you go about getting a simple lead test?
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You ask your physician when you make the appointment for your next regular checkup. They need to draw blood and check insurance, which likely won't pay for it.

OR you can google search for a Walk-in/Quest/Labcorp in your area and pay them directly.
 
Catfish said:
Had it done a couple times early on. Levels were normal over several tests, but varied, also normal. Doc quizzed me about it and advised against testing unless I had daily exposure or frequent poor ventilation.
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Did your doc say why he advised against having it tested?


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Yes. He said it was not necessary unless I had a higher risk than occasional/hobby shooting and reloading.
 
Jan 2021 level was 3
Jan 2022 level was 2
My LabCorp paperwork list a value range of 1 to 4, I simply ask my doc to include a lead workup into my annual checkup.

I don't shoot indoors very much but almost all of my pistol caliber ammo and at least half of my 300 BLK is cast and coated these days. I don't believe I have any work related exposure.

Non-smoker and I always wear nitrile gloves when cleaning my stuff or when reloading. The reduction is probably due to less shooting overall last year and the move towards coating cast projectiles.
 
I used to get tested for lead and it was always very low or 0 even though I reloaded a lot using lead bullets. The only indoor range I shot on a lot was when I was in high school, the school had a basement .22 rifle range. I guarantee the air system for lead was poor. No wonder I had such bad grades in high school!
 
I've been around shooters,, ranges,, handloading etc all my life.
I've seen some people test high,, and others very low.

One thing NOT mentioned is the fact that each person is a physically different being.
No (2) people will get the exact same results. A lab test isn't expensive, as compared to the alternative. When in doubt,, do the test. And if a doctor says not to,, ask them if they will sign a liability form stating they advised against it. Bet they will test ya then!

You can't buy good health,, and as such,, many things are tried & proven methods of preventing poor health. A lead level test is one of those. I think of it as cheap insurance.

Everybody who shoots may have different factors to consider. Indoors or outdoors? Good indoor ventilation or bad? Lead bullets or jacketed? Handloads or factory? Jobs associated with lead or not?

Too many variables to consider,, and as such, a simple test is an easy way to get a good idea of each person's health where lead is concerned.
 
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