Lead Exposure...

[toby]

In the meantime you will die from something else before the lead takes it's toll.

[HighLander51]

i think mark twain was credited with the saying, "if i knew i was going to live this long, i would have taken better care of my teeth." if you knew you were going to croak at 65, don't worry about it. if you plan on living to 95, i'd start trying to get that level down.

exactly! If the Doc tells me I would live 9 days longer after age 84? I'm not going to stop shooting... Tell you what, we keep up the communication about my lead level symptoms/issues/problems/diagnosis and I'll help you along with your start into reloading and shooting. My plan is to be the last shooter, of the last squad, at the last stage of the USPSA Multi Gun Nationals, or Handgun Nationals, and after the RO says, "If you are finished, unload and show clear", then "if you are clear, hammer down and holster" , then "Range is clear", I will pitch over dead. I will have had a good 50 year plus run, and my younger shooting buddies will divide up the booty! All those Glocks, AR's, and original M1 Super 90 Benelli's. How cool is that?

[alantani]

fair enough. just don't wind up in diapers at 85.....

[HighLander51]

Not a problem, I stopped riding motorcycles 2 years ago...

[Eljay]

This stuff isn't rocket science. Wash your hands after shooting and before eating anything at the range. Wash your hands before eating anything after touching lead or anything contaminated. When you get home from the range throw your clothes into the wash and take a shower. Avoid indoor ranges if you shoot a lot, especially if their ventilation is bad. If you cast make sure there's ventilation. Get tested occasionally. If the tests are higher than they should be you can look into the next tier of things you can do - looking at your primers or whatever.

[alantani]

This stuff isn't rocket science. Wash your hands after shooting and before eating anything at the range. Wash your hands before eating anything after touching lead or anything contaminated. When you get home from the range throw your clothes into the wash and take a shower. Avoid indoor ranges if you shoot a lot, especially if their ventilation is bad. If you cast make sure there's ventilation. Get tested occasionally. If the tests are higher than they should be you can look into the next tier of things you can do - looking at your primers or whatever.

well, true, that, but this type of outdoor competition appears to present some special challenges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uvIfxnwdkM

the smoke from each round only has to hang in the air for 3 seconds as he moves through and inhales it. from the video, it appears likely that the exposure is due to inhalation of that smoke. if i was going to do one thing, it would be to switch all of these guys over to a fully jacketed round. that would take care of the issue of lead residue in the smoke that you see after each round is fired. if i was going to do one more thing, i would set up a hand washing station and require that each shooter wash his hands as he exits the station.

that still does not address the issue of all the lead that is just lying round from all the thousands of rounds that have already been fired. i was looking at the course and wondering how well i could move through that with a cartridge respirator. i'm not sure a particle mask would do the trick, but might work. a standard dust mask might cost 50 cents. they're shooting in pretty tight quarters and there's alot of lead lying around.

ok, so here is my recommendation. one, everybody gets tested. before we start trying to solve this problem, let's figure out how wide spread this problem actually is. two, particle masks for everybody. they are cheap and they might actually work. and three, a hand washing station. after running the course, clear and holster your weapon and go wash your hands. this will help out the nail biters and nose pickers in the group. do that for 6 months, then everybody go get your lead levels checked again.

just a little advise from your friendly neighborhood pharmacist!

[HighLander51]

before we start trying to solve this problem, let's figure out how wide spread this problem actually is.
just a little advise from your friendly neighborhood pharmacist!

Widespread, all over the US and the world. Every Saturday and Sunday there are tens of thousands of shooters like me at a match somewhere. While not everyone runs black bullets (moly coated lead), some run plain cast, powder coated, full metal jacketed and partial jackets. Pretty much only Open guys run full metal so the comp doesn't get all messed up. I don't know anyone who loads with non toxic primers because only one company offers retail and they are always out of stock, like most primers anyway. I have tried Home Depot particle masks, but they are awkward to use especially for the RO, and fog up your shooting glasses. However, some other kind of mask might be the solution. This style is very popular with the Filipino crowd.

[HighLander51]

Might give this a try




Wait, now these could be just the ticket.

[alantani]

but what about their lead levels? that's what we need to know. i understand that lots of guys shoot in this kind of environment. what's needed is the hard numbers from the lab. you indicated that plenty of guys on your team has levels under 10. it's the guys over 10 that need to be identified.

[HighLander51]

but what about their lead levels? that's what we need to know. i understand that lots of guys shoot in this kind of environment. what's needed is the hard numbers from the lab. you indicated that plenty of guys on your team has levels under 10. it's the guys over 10 that need to be identified.

The guys on the squad with less than 10 are running full metal jacketed bullets, the guys in the 20's are running moly coated lead.

[alantani]

ok, then it's masks for the guys over 20. if it works, keep on shooting plain lead. if it doesn't work, then the cost of your sport might be going up.

now, to get lead levels, your docs have to sign off on everything. are your docs all ok with lead levels this high?

[alantani]

this type of mask is going to be pretty useless to filter out smoke particles. basically, if you can smell smoke, it's failed.

[HighLander51]

ok, then it's masks for the guys over 20. if it works, keep on shooting plain lead. if it doesn't work, then the cost of your sport might be going up.

now, to get lead levels, your docs have to sign off on everything. are your docs all ok with lead levels this high?

Doctors don't sign off on anything. The report goes out from the lab to the state and the county, then they send you an information package, that's it. Like I said doctors don't even know that bullets are made from lead...

So now that I think about, Cowboy shooters shoot only lead, by their rules, pure cast, lubed cast, or moly/powder coated, but only lead. And that goes for the rifle also, only pistol calibers allowed. And they shoot only steel, and handle the steel with all that lead splash and dust. They do not have a power floor, but rather a minimum velocity of 600 feet per second. The faster a lead bullet goes, the more the lead cloud. A 9mm going 1,200 fps produces more cloud than a .45acp going 750 fps. And powders make a difference, high density hot burning powders like TiteGroup generate more cloud than Vihtavuori N300 low density slow burning powders. Cowboy .38 special running 600 fps doesn't generate the same lead cloud.

So if there are any Cowboy shooters in here, what are your lead levels?

Truth is most competitive shooters ignore lead level, "Why hell boy, I've been shooting for Bullseye for 50 years and I don't have any problems, ok, maybe I can't remember the stage that I ran, but it doesn't matter"

If you are new to competitive shooting, not a casual shooter who runs 2,000 rounds a year, but someone who runs 2,000 rounds a month, get tested, get a baseline/timeline, and go from there. Shooting has the same risks as riding motorcycles, know the risks, accept the risk, ride hard or stay home.

This is a lead cloud from a G35 running 40S&W 180 grain lead..

[J-cat]

So Glock does make a 1911!

[alantani]

ok, so one obstacle after another.....

edited......