Hi Guys,
I have been a member of this forum for a couple of months now and have gained much knowledge from this board and its members.Now I would like to Add to the vast Knowledge.In my line of work (Union Laborer)I have to deal with many Hazzerdous materials on the job.One of which is lead.I have been extensively trained in the proper handling,Clean up,Removal,and desposal of this material.It scares me to death at some of the Ways and places that some of the members on this board cast there bullets.I thought i would share some of my traning with you.
First there are two ways that lead can enter your body 1)It can be inhaled 2)It can be digested.Lead can be Inhaled in the form of dust (Scraping old lead paint)or in a vapor form(melting lead)If lead is heated much past its melting point it will start to shed lead vapor.this vapor will settle in the immediate area if they are vented out side they will settle on the lawn ETC.after you are done there is a poisonous layer of lead on everything.As you touch a surface that has been contaminated with lead it transfers to your hands. then it can be transfered to your mouth by a smoke or by touching food.The vented lead vapor that settles in your yard will now have your kids run and play in it.If you plant a garden in this contaminated area the lead will be in the corn and such then into you when you eat it.If you vacuum the casting room the lead gets sucked up into the vacuum and spread into the air for you to breath and to settle all over the house (vacuums are the no 1 way to spread lead dust).Once lead enters the body it is recognized as calcium by the body and is stored in the bones where it cannot be removed.I have seen pics of old roman skeletons that you can still see the lead deposits in there bones.The romans used lead for there eating utensils and they lined there aquaducts with it as well.Many of these romans went crazy from lead poisoning.
Very small amounts of lead will scramble a small childs brain This is at its worst for kids under 6 years of age.this damage is totaly unreversable.How many let there young kids help or watch as they melt lead or let them handle bullets? Adults can handle ten times these amounts with out any adverse affects right away but there is no way to tell what might happen ten or twenty years down the road.Once lead enters the body its there forever and the effects are devistating years later.Some of the signs of being poisoned by lead are nausea,hand tremors,and anxiety.At high enough doses it can be fatal.I myself have been poisoned many times and have not even noticed.As a kid i would hunt rabbits with my air rifle and it being a single shot i would carry my extra pellets in my mouth and spit them out in my hand when i needed another one as an, adult and at work before i was properly trained, i would cut steel that was covered in lead paint and breath the fumes.we would also tear out walls coverd in lead paint.Now that i know what is going on i won`t touch the stuff with out the proper equipment.
I know i left out alot and don`t remember the numbers but i hope this helps someone to start thinking about what they are doing when they melt lead on moms stove or have small kids around.Thanks for hearing me out.

Riflemen10x

I've been casting for 30 some odd years. Another of my hobbies is restoring/fixing up older houses. Back when this lead thing first came to the forefront of the news, I was burning old paint off the interior wood work of an old house. I lived in the house while I was doing the work. I vacuumed up the paint chips and dust. I did not wear a mask, I smoked will working, my coffee was in the same room with me..............
I would do a fair amount of bullet casting out in the garage on rainy, cold days on the weekends and go shooting at an indoor range in the evenings or outdoor range on the weekends.
Well I heard the news reports and got concerned about all of my contact with lead. So I went to family doctor and got a blood test for lead levels. My blood levels were lower then the norm. My blood lead levels continue to be below norm.
I'm skeptical of the horror stories and precautions the EPA has come up with. I would suggest that the EPA needs reasons to justify it's existance and for reasons to expand it's budget.
Jim

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Cast bullets are the true and rightous path to shooting bliss

Untold millions of people have cast unknown tons of lead over a period of centuries and lead poisoning has never been a problem. Why do we suddenly need to dress in space suits?

Don't eat, drink, or smoke (in other words, don't ingest anything)...clean the area with a disposable damp cloth/paper toweling... and keep a breeze at your back and all should be fine.

The only two people I know who were actually dignosed both ran indoor ranges...and tended to be lazy about wetting the range down before a clean up, less than perfect about wearing fliter masks during clean ups...so I assume they breathed in enough dust or ingested it some way or the other. This would be a daily clean up for over 20years...lead didn't kill them, one died of a stroke and the other of a heart attack (both had to be pushing 300pounds).

I've been casting for about 32 years and had a full bolood work up last year...lead level is tolerable (would have to dig out the old results to give a more specific amount, but the MD wasn't up set about it...called it "urban average").

I got worried about lead poisonong a yaer ago and was tested. None was found. I have cast for 30+ years taking reasonable precautions. I would never question the seriousness of lead exposure but believe it is not quite the danger some would believe.

Because there is such a HUGE difference between lead's
melting and boiling point, it doesn't really form vapors
at any significant level while at temperatures anyone uses
for casting.

I currently work at an environmental lab, and from what I have
learned, the main lead concern is kids eating paint chips, and
adults breathing paint dust which contains lead.

Lead is most commonly associated with development
issues in kids, and much less a problem with adults.
When I was about 10, I helped my dad melt down and
cast a couple thousand pounds of lead. I even helped file
down the castings, and remember my hands being a silvery
grey color at the end of the work. I knew enough to wash my
hands, and aside from the occasional ffffinger cccconvulsion,
I don't have any problems.

Dave

Wanted to add...besides casting for 32 years, in the 1970's woked summers on paint crews...mostly old houses with lead paint that needed scraping and sanding....no real guidelines back then (today, the house down the block is under a bigt plastic tarp while they take off the ancient lead paint) and we were not issued fliter masks.

Lived in an urban area almost all my life, breathing that leaded gasoline polution....lead paint...casting bullets...shooting on indoor pistol ranges...being shot and having them dig out #6 shot, some of which stayed in for a good long time.

The lead blood test isn't all that cheap, and your MD (HMO controled or not) will probably not recommend it unless you (1) have symptoms or (2) work in a high risk area for lead. Simply means the $ will probably come out of your pocket.

Hello,
I started casting lead bullets and shooting in poorly ventilated pistol ranges in the early 1950's,and kept at it ever since.
I worked for 20 years in the Chemical Control Department of a large corperation,so I know what Haz Mat is.
I was concerned because I had been sucking up lead for 40 years,so I took the heavy metals blood test(not covered by my insurance).No problem,at all.It seems that Ingestion(eating),is the bigest danger,and that is prevented by simply washing your hands.
I know that some people have developed big problems with lead poisoning.I met a fellow who underwent 6,000 dollers worth of blood cleansing,and still does not feel that he is cured.
I have an opinion that some people ere more prone to this sickness then others.You will never know if you are one of these,until you fail the blood test.
Because of this,I sugest that you be very fussy about washing your hands after handeling any amount of lead.
Also,have some form of ventilation when you cast bullets,or inspect freshly cast bullets.
Frank

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Frank

Hi Guys,
One of the reasons i posted this thread was to make people think.I don`t cast bullets but i do have to deal with lead almost every day at work.
When i read a post about how someone is melting lead on moms stove top and using her muffin pan to cast ingots it makes me ill.
Personly i have been tested and know lots of people that have to be tested for lead.I have never been over the safe limit myself but know people that have.I also have been poisoned and know how it has effected me.
Lead is stored in the bones and your blood work can come out clean but you still can have toxic levels in your bones.When your wife is pregnet and the baby starts to grow and pulls calcium from her bones it will get lead from her too.When you get old and start to shrink and you lose bone mass you get that lead back into the blood and to a old brain that isn`t what it was when you were 16.
It would realy suck if you poisoned someone you love.
Im glad many people on this post have not gotten sick.I am in no was trying to say that you shouldn`t cast your own bullets.Im just saying Think.abspestos won`t kill you today ether but give it one good whiff and twenty years and your toast
Thanks
Riflemen10x
http://www.phyles.ge.cnr.it/htmling/toxicityoflead.html

Rifleman,

Thanks for sharing. Bottom line - get tested to know for sure. I have a friend who underwent chelation therapy (no one can even figure out how he got lead poisoning, but he's about 60 or so and maybe it just started to come out). It's not cheap, and it's sure not fun. So better safe than sorry....

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MikeG

When I was a kid, I remember reading about a family that had picked up a souvenir in Mexico. It was a ceramic pitcher and they brought it back home to use as a container for orange juice. Not known to them was that the glazing in the pitcher was lead-based, and everyone in the family came down with lead poisoning symptoms. It took about 2 years of constant exposure with the leaching of lead from the pitcher for the symptoms to show bad enough.

I've worked in several research laboratories. I have been exposed to just about all the heavy metals, especially the poisonous ones. Lead, mercury, Selenium, Thallium, and a lot of stuff nastier than you can imagine. Being careful is the key, and you have to understand that continued long-term exposure is usually necessary for any noticeable effect. I really wish the EPA would try to understand that, but most of the good scientists left that agency long ago, replaced by the fear-driven mentality.

I keep a chunk of red glazed pottery arround to spot check my giger counter...some were made with a Uranium salt as a glaze ingrediant. Can get the double whammy of high lead and high Rads. at the same time.

I work in a tin can plant and also cast bullets. I knew that years ago all tin cans were sealed along one side with lead (now they use a welder) so I asked some of the guys there (those who'd been with the company awhile) what kind of problems they had due to working around lead day in and day our for years. They all looked at me like I'd just stepped off a flying sauce and asked, "What problems?" NONE of them had ever suffered any adverse effects from working around molten lead, and some of them had done it for DECADES!!

With the EPA it is a power thing and also self preservation. If the truth gets out on how dangerous all these chemicals they are protecting us from they would have to go find real jobs. Their livihood depends on a scared and ignorant population.

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The man who invented the plow was not bored. He was hungry.

I think horseman hit the nail right on the head. It's a power thing and they might have to get a real job instead of sucking up tax payers money.
The sad part is that so many people believe everything the EPA puts out in their bull***t brain washing heavy handed handling of things.
At one time I cast over 40000 bullets per week by hand and melted all of the ingots and remelted the sprues and sorted and lubricated all the bullets mostly by myself. I have had the heavy metal blood test done and was below average. But then again I washed my hands before eating or doing anything else that involved ingesting anything. I also used a good ventalation system.
I don't think just one whiff of asbestos will do you in either,it takes more exposure than that IMHO. Hammerhead

I tend to agree with Hammer head I've been casting for years & my father was a Stereo-Tpper for most of hois working life working with Linotype in its moulten form .He was found to have above av lead levels in his blood .But this was due to inadiqute Venturelaition.So from the time I started casting I had stringant work practices forced upon me.I'm gratefull for it these days mind you. A clean well venterlated area.I prefer to work outside but use a exurst fan inside.Wear protective gloves & clothing which covers the body .Also shower as soon as I finnish casting

dont want to burst any bubbles here but you can get it from casting. I went through drug theropy two years a go for a blood count of 87 had to go through treatment twice to get it to a still high but exceptable level. only lead exposure i had was casting. Now granted i cast probably 10 times more then the average caster and wasnt to good about saftety precausions. But it can happen. I have another buddy who casts and talked him into gettting tested and he had to go though the drug deal too. Dont fool yourself into thinking it cant happen. If you havent got tested Get tested. Clean up your casting area dont smoke and eat while casting!! Now if i could only take my own advise!!

I have been casting bullets outdoors on a Coleman stove for over 30 years and have worked in health care for the same amount of time. I agree there may be hazards from over exposure to or ingestion of lead. We need to keep the danger in perspective. Reasonable care and precautions will significantly reduce the risks. All the best...
Gil

Hello,
In my opinion,children are at a greater risk from lead poisoning then adults. I never encouraged my children,or grandkids,to get involved with my bullet casting.
I also believe that someadults have a 'weakness' for lead poison. This is similar to an allergy.
I have been exposed over time,to more lead then the average bullet caster and still passed my blood/lead test.
Now,I have good exhaust when I cast and wash my hands after every session.hat is all that most f us need to do.
I agree that EPA deliberately deals in'Fearmongering'.
If you have concerns about your health,be sure to take the test.it is well worth the cost. Knowing that yo8u are 'Well'is a great boost to your quality of life;knowing that you are not,is a 'Lifesaver'.
Frank

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Frank

No offense but rifleman10X are you sure you dont work for the EPA . You sound just like the fear driven crowd. I was a cop for almost ten years fired thousands and thousands of rounds have loaded for about five years and was always told if proper ventilation and handwashing was observed that you would be fine just had a blood analysis done and all was fine . I dont doubt what your saying but, I think lot of common sense has to come inot play also . If some one tells you that you get it from bad ventilation and you cast in an unventilated room with no mask your asking for it. and if they tell you you get it feom ingestion and you handle lead and then make a sandwhich and eat it without washing your hands good prior too then your asking for it. Okay there is my twwo cents.