Lead poisoning..

[Cash Creek]

Just got done loading 200 rounds, and the first thing I do when I come in the house is wash my hands to get the lead and dirt off, and I got to thing ( here we go again ) when we are at a shoot and we stop for lunch and they don't have a way for you to wash up do you think hand sanitizer will get he lead off of your hands so you don't transfer the lead to your sandwich and then to your mouth???  Do any of you guys use latex gloves when reloading???

Why I ask all this is because my wife is a Nurse... and she show me this...

Breathing air, drinking water, eating food or swallowing or touching dirt that contains lead can cause many health problems. In adults, lead can increase blood pressure and cause infertility, nerve disorders and muscle and joint pain. It can also make you irritable and affect your ability to concentrate and remember. CC

[Mogorilla]

I have just started reloading, prior to that I only shot cap and ball.  I loaded cap and ball without gloves, etc, but always washed up.  I use slightly smaller than needed latex gloves for reloading.   Not so tight to cause restriction, but gives me all the tactile feel needed.  I am a chemist and we always wear gloves, usually in double or triple layer, so no stretch to bring it home.  I would always suggest erring on the side of caution.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Evert match I've been to had a place to wash up. I also carry water soap and paper towels in my truck. Not just for lead but as needed for any cleanup.

[Cash Creek]

Shotgun Franklin:  At the National we had a place to wash up but the sign said not to drink the water..so back to the hand sanitizer...CC

[Pancho Peacemaker]

Lead (a toxic heavy metal) enters your body through your GI track (eating), respiratory tract (breathing), and can be absorbed through you skin.  The GI and respiratory routes are the most potent routes.


A few recommendations:

1)  Indoor ranges are notorious sites for lead poisoning.  Avoid them unless they have state of the art ventilation and air filtration.
2)  After you shoot, reload, clean your guns, or handle lots of ammo, wash your hands.  I also use "D-Wipes" which are a chemical wipe that absorbs the lead from your skin.  You can buy these at Midway USA and Brownells:

3) Eating with lead contaminated hands is an easy way to get lead into your system.   Don't snack while you reload or clean your guns.  
4) All shooters and reloaders should ask their M.D. to run a lead level on their blood during your annual physical exam.  It's a very inexpensive test and is easy to add on to your routine blood work.

If you level is elevated, things can be done to help you.  Remedies depend on the level of intoxication.   If you let your lead levels get high and stay high for an extended period of time, lead will cause permanent neurologic damage (as in brain damage) and severe chronic head aches.

[Major 2]

This is a very good and informative thread....
should be a sticky....

Nice to know about D wipes ,

though, I doubt if it will remove the lead in my ass ?

[Texas Lawdog]

Roger, You're preachin' to the choir.

[Pancho Peacemaker]

This is a very good and informative thread....
should be a sticky....

Nice to know about D wipes ,

though, I doubt if it will remove the lead in my ass ?

You'd be needing "Preparation D" or a "D enema" for that.   

[Shotgun Franklin]

This is a very good and informative thread....
should be a sticky....

Nice to know about D wipes ,

though, I doubt if it will remove the lead in my ass ?

Just swaller a couple of'm. Although I'll bet they're easier to swaller than pass.

[Delmonico]

Been reloading for over 30 years including casting.  Used to teach classes on an indoor range.  Used common sense, didn't ever go to extremes, lead level in my blood has never been any where above normal. 

[Cash Creek]

Went to get some new carpeting today and they are coming out Thursday to measure the rooms..and the man said that there a NEW law that they have to test the rooms for LEAD..when they take the old carpet up..cost $15..I didn't know about the new law when I posted about lead poisoning the other night..

Do you think he read my post and said here a good way to make $ 15 bucks off of Cash Creek  because he afraid of lead poising..CC

[Grizzly Adams]

This is a very good and informative thread....
should be a sticky....

Nice to know about D wipes ,

though, I doubt if it will remove the lead in my ass ?

Same company makes a liquid soap for removing lead from the hands.  Dillon sells both: http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25338/catid/5/D_Lead_Hand_Soap

[Tascosa Joe]

I have been casting bullets since 1970 or so.  I have done lots of things with lead to include filling my check with .54 cal balls and spitting them down the bore of my Hawken for a stake shoot.  Probably not the smartest thing I ever did.  A few years ago, a hypochondriac at work called the enviorenmental nazi's to come test us because we had an indoor range at work.  I tested normal after all the craziness I have done.  I probably did more damage to myself with the depleted uranimum 8" nuclear trainers than with lead.  IMO this is pole vaulting over mouse pills.

T-Joe

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I have to chime in with Tascosa Joe and others.  When I started having my health issues after Desert Storm, my Doc (s) were having so many blood tests from me for various reasons I began to feel like a pin cushion.


Anyway, I told my main Doctor about the amount of shooting and especially reloading I had done since the early '70s.  I asked him specifically to have a lead test done on one of my blood samples ... which was done.  When it came back he said that my lead level was a small bit over "normal" but not even close to the "worry about" levels that are dangerous.

Like Joe, I'm sure a LOT more harm has come from my repeated exposure to depleted uranium, both in it's benign state and after-action state of being, i.e. VERY high levels from firing.  Glad my baby-makin' days are long over!