Health Alert !

H

HS

New member
When you fire a gun (especially indoors) a certain ammount of residue is ejected from it - either via the ejection port on a semi-auto or from the cylinder gap on a revolver.

The residue will contain many trace chemicals including LEADwhich should be washed off [/b]immediately[/b] after your shooting session !

Failure to do so may increase your bodies lead level & in time that may cause problems with your health.


This is more for the new shooter than for the old hands out there ! ;)


------------------
"The Gun from Down Under !"
 
HS -
Have you heard anything about any possible airborne contaminants from Moly-Cote Bullets?

Nate

------------------
Train Hard-
 
If you shoot indoors try looking at the bottom of your shoes after you get done for the day. I`ve often wondered how much lead and other contaminates I filter through my lungs after a session at the range. When I lived in Florida in the summer I always thought the airconditioner was just redistributing all of that crap right back into my face, one old fella even wore a surgical type mask. I think he was onto something there.
 
At the course I took last week, we had 9 guys shoot about 9000 rounds over about 17 range hours in three days. Every one of us had the "sweet taste" in the back of our throats at the end of the day. That taste is lead. It comes from the primers. Even with a state of the art circulation system, with three inlets of outside air, angled downrange, their is still significant build up of particulates on the floor at the firing line. You can see it at the end of the day when you sweep up the brass.

some indoor ranges are now making those disposable hospital type masks available for people renting range time.


I have heard several tim es that we get more lead into our systems throw ingestiation than breathing. Apparently, what we breath in, just sorta rattels arond in our lungs, cuasing no more harm than the average particulate. BUT, what we get on our hands or in our mouth can end up in our stomachs, where it is absorbed by the body just like calcium.... hence.. it gets deposited and concetrated over time in our bones.

for whatever reason, COLD water and soap are supposed to be the best for getting lead off of your hands after a range session.
 
Another hint: Tell your buddy to stop collecting his spent brass in his hat. Seriously.

Also, heed Rob's warnning about washing with *cold* water first....but make sure you use a real quantity of soap. This will close the pores and permit the soap to remove most of the lead. After that, a warm/hot water wash will result in *far* less lead being pulled in thru the skin.

While I'm not a Doctor, I do play one on TV... :). Notes to follow from Walt Welch, MD.
Rich
 
If you are a serious shooter and spent a bit of time on indoor ranges, I highly recommend you talk with your doctor about having your blood tested for lead periodically.
I always thought about it but never did anything.
This month, after a winter of shooting 2-3 times a month on ventilated indoor ranges, I finally had mine tested. My doctor said normal is 1-19 and mine was 30. I'm not sure what the units are, but mine was 50% over the recommended maximum. He said it wasn't time to panic but it was time to be careful. I'm only loading jacketed bullets and spending the minimum amount of time at the ranges on match days. I used to get there early and stay late.
Maybe one of our physician members could give some advice on this unseen problem?
Cat
 
Okay, I was wrong. (You won't hear me say THAT very often!) :D
When I started reading this thread, I was pretty much disking a miss on it.
I thought, "I don't shoot indoors, so what's the big deal?"
Then I got to the part about ingestion and picking up brass in your hat. (A habit I learned in the Corps.)
WHOOPS!
Guess an old dog can still learn new tricks! Thanks for the thread and I swear to now change my ways.



------------------
Your mind is your primary weapon.
 
This subject has been on all boards several times, HOWEVER, with new people on the net, and new shooters shooting, it cannot be over exposed.

Indoor ranges are the primary problem. Airborne lead released when the primer fires, is the main source.

What can you do? First, follow Ayoobs advice, and he says don't and I quote " I would rather scavenge for food in a toxic waste dump, than shoot on an indoor range ". Are there clean indoor ranges? Not many.

Follow the advice about washing with cold water, not just face and hands, but hair, facial hair, arm hair, etc. Do not eat and/or drink, or smoke while on the range. Consider changing clothes and shoes before entering your car. Wash your shooting clothes at a laundermat. Remember, lead is much more dangerous to children. Do not sort or tumble brass in the house. Do not eat while sorting brass ( this came close to killing a range employee in Indianapolis about 10 years ago).

If your only choice is an indoor range, wear a mask that will stop the airborne lead particles. Follow the other advice. Have a lead level blood test at least every year, more often if you shoot indoors a lot.

One of my best friends wrote several articles about his own lead problems. He was shooting 3 to 4 times a week on an indoor range.

In the early sixties, one of my neighbors died of lead poisoning -- too many years of casting bullets in the basement -- using a dipper.

An ASLET member and firearms instructor, died after a week of running officers on an old indoor range. This was about 6 years ago, and took place in the east. I would have to dig out the details. GLV
 
It's scarey to think about, but I once read a report that said that the average Human touches one of the three 'portals' into the body an average of three times a minute. That's the Eyes, nose, and mouth if you're wondering... How many of you wash your hands after using the Bathroom? You're touching the same doorknob as the one before you who hasn't. So lead contamination is definitely a real concern. It pays to be careful.
Also, the Marine Corps is currently in the process of re-educating all of the "Old Salts" (like me) who would police up the brass into our covers. Seems that you CAN teach an Old dog a new trick!
Now I've got a bunch of paraniods panicing as they rub their eyes or touch their noses!... Be careful out there!
Unkel Gilbey
 
Been there done that. After 2 friends tested positive for lead, they were having symtoms, I went and had my lead level checked. What the doc told me about my elevated lead level made me quit being a range officer. I now try to keep my indoor shooting to once a month.
 
paltik: Thank you for those links. I have been shooting indoors ,at least once a week for the last year. After reading the symptoms, I find that numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,13,and 17 all apply to me. And I thought I was just turning into a grumpy old fart.

------------------
A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined;
George Washington Jan 8,1790--There can be no doubt about the Second Amendment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top