Lead Poisoning

In June of 2012, I was having the usual blood tests done and thought I should have my lead levels checked. I play a lot with lead; stained glass, electronics, and shooting have been hobbies of mine over the years. After the results came in, I, and my doctor were a bit shocked at how high it was - 59 which is very high.

The unit of measure is micrograms of lead per deciliter which is abbreviated μg/dL. The following information is a rough guide for children as to what course of action is needed for various blood lead levels:

10 ~ 14 Learn about cause, repeat screening

15 ~ 19 Repeat screening, case management to abate sources of exposure

20 ~ 44 Medical evaluation, case management

45 ~ 69 Medical evaluation, chelation, case management

70 ~ up Hospitalization, immediate chelation, case management

For adults anything above 25 is certainly cause for concern with symptoms showing up at levels above 50. Not wanting to suffer the ill effects of lead poisoning, I determined change was critical.

Shooting is a fun hobby for me as are all my other hobbies, I don't want to stop having fun so I had to "Get clean". I knew that one of the most probable causes of lead exposure were from a local indoor range I was shooting at a lot (2 hours every Saturday and Sunday). I would come home from shooting, blow my nose and it was always a black mess. Primers have lead to aid in combustion so that lead is airborne in the smoke as you shoot. If I have a lot of black stuff in my nose, it probably contains lead. I immediately started shooting at a different range. A private range which typically had less shooters and has a better ventilation system. Since shooting there, my simple test of blowing my nose has shown positive results. So, this was one step towards improvement.

Being more aware of the problem, I started paying attention to other areas that could be a potential source of exposure. I generally wash my hands frequently so I didn't think I had a problem there till I paid more attention. My usual routine after shooting was to carry my gear (gun box and brass catcher) out of the range then over to the bathroom where I would wash my hands. I would then pick up the gear and head out to the car and then home. Hmmm, the gear is right there on the bench when shooting, lead dust is in the smoke, the smoke settles on the gear, see a problem here? After washing my hands, I would handle the gear again - this would re-contaminate my hands negating the efforts of washing. I now take my gear from the range to the car, then I go back inside to wash my hands.

Reloading is another area I looked at to see what could be done. At the press, you are handling the bullets so the exposure is contact exposure and being careful not to touch your mouth isn't too difficult to deal with. Washing your hands is also pretty straight forward after reloading. The one device I believe is a big source of problems is the vibratory tumbler and the media. In the summer, I would put the tumbler on the floor near the open garage door but in the winter, it would be in the garage with the door closed and near the bench while I was reloading. When that system is running, there is a lot of dust generated which is airborne. Being in close proximity to it means I am probably inhaling that dust (and lead). I decided to switch to a wet tumbler system, the type that looks like a rock polisher we used as kids. Being wet, there isn't any airborne dust and it isn't that much more work (I will post another article on that system when I have time).

Washing up is another matter that I looked at with a bit more detail. Whenever possible, I use D-Lead soap which, according to the manufacturer, is specially formulated to remove heavy metals. I don't know if there is any truth to the manufacturers claims but I do know that soap does a good job of cleaning my hands so I hope it helps with the lead too.

In summary, so far I have:

Stopped shooting at the range with bad ventilation

Changed my clean up habits (when to wash up)

Changed my brass cleaning method (wet system)

Used "special" soap ( D-Lead)

Three months after my first test my lead levels dropped to 41. Lead does not leave the body quickly so both myself and my doctor were astonished by the improvements. In talking with other guys who have been through this, they too saw pretty fast results initially, but progress slows down and will probably take years to get back down into the safe range. By changing just a few things, I was able to get very large benefits so it was time and in some cases, money well spent. After spending some time researching the effects of high lead levels, many of the symptoms such as: loss of concentration, loss of coordination, muscle pain, and fatigue are certainly not conducive to shooting high scores. So, even if you think are are "too old" to worry about lead poisoning, by changing your habits you might be able to shoot higher scores!