Lead poisoning from bulle casting

[Old Caster]

Bear in mind that in the 1960's 60 micrograms per deciliter was considered the top level that was acceptable. Each ten or so years after that, the figure went down and finally to the point that in some places a normal or typical amount for the area is above what is now acceptable. I don't remember anyone here ever being treated for high lead levels even in the 60's but no one I knew ever ate paint flaking off the walls either. People in Missouri typically run around 10 .

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

People in Missouri typically run around 10 .

Is that why they pronounce it "Ma-sur-ah"?

[dondiego]

Pure lead pipe still supplies drinking water to homes in many municipalities and has done so for many years. One of my main sources of lead for casting is to stop by constriction sites and ask if they have dug up any lead pipe. I have a friend who still has a lead .22 bullet in his hip that the doctors didn't want to remove.????????????????????????????????????

[tazman]

Pure lead pipe still supplies drinking water to homes in many municipalities and has done so for many years. One of my main sources of lead for casting is to stop by constriction sites and ask if they have dug up any lead pipe. I have a friend who still has a lead .22 bullet in his hip that the doctors didn't want to remove.????????????????????????????????????

The lead pipe in the can sometimes be a problem for people if the inside of the pipe isn't all coated with lime from the water.

I have heard about the lead bullet inside some one's body before and have no idea why it doesn't seem to cause a problem for them. I never heard of anyone getting lead poisoning from an imbedded bullet.

[MaryB]

Body encapsulates the lead plus blood is not acidic so it doesn't dissolve the lead. Same for lead water pipes, most water supplies tend to be basic and not acidic.

[10x]

for about 48 years I have been drinking from copper pipes soldered with 50/50 lead..
for 10 years I worked for a plumbing supply .. handled solder, lead sheets and 5 LB ingots daily..( If I just knew I would someday be casting ..all that lead I could have purchased CHEAP)
casting for a year indoor just beside an open door ..during summer there is a fan behind me blowing out the door Not so in the winter just the open door
NO lead increase in my blood in any of that time

I have been casting bullets since 1965. And I have had lead levels checked before, during and after casting sessions. Also after sessions in a poorly ventilated indoor range.
I don't eat or drink or touch my lips while handling lead, nor do I do so when I deprime fired cases. I am careful with the tumbling media as well.

I know folks who have gotten lead poisoning who worked in the plastics industry and who worked with leaded gasoline. Also guys who did renovations where there was lead paint.
Follow some basic procedures, - no eating, wear gloves, no touching lips or drinking beverages, keep from breathing the hot air over your lead pot and your lead levels won't change much, if at all.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

I have been casting bullets since 1965.

Is that your final answer? I thought it was 1966?
Either way...impressive.

[mpmarty]

My lead levels are just fine thank you. Got plenty already in ingots. I look at it like my cholesterol levels I never get tested so never worry about it either. I'm seventy-five yrs old and stay healthy by NEVER going to a doctor.

Remember, doctors kill more people than guns.

[10x]

Is that your final answer? I thought it was 1966?
Either way...impressive.

Could have been 1966..... Either way, lead poisoning isn't a problem...

[fredj338]

My lead levels are just fine thank you. Got plenty already in ingots. I look at it like my cholesterol levels I never get tested so never worry about it either. I'm seventy-five yrs old and stay healthy by NEVER going to a doctor.

Remember, doctors kill more people than guns.

Certain amount of truth there. Then again, @ 75, not much is going to shorten your life span. IMO, it's what you do to your body @ 20-25 that comes back to bite you after 50. Cast on!

[Old Caster]

Is that why they pronounce it "Ma-sur-ah"?

Actually people that were born here pronounce it Mis sur ee as it is spelled. I have no idea where that comes from unless possibly through the college football team.

[rhead]

The lead pipe in the can sometimes be a problem for people if the inside of the pipe isn't all coated with lime from the water.

I have heard about the lead bullet inside some one's body before and have no idea why it doesn't seem to cause a problem for them. I never heard of anyone getting lead poisoning from an imbedded bullet.

Because metallic lead is relatively harmless unless it makes a hole in a vital organ. it is the lead compounds that are toxic.

[10x]

Because metallic lead is relatively harmless unless it makes a hole in a vital organ. it is the lead compounds that are toxic.

Right on! Lead oxides in paint (still sold for some commercial applications), Lead oxides in plastic to colour it, tetra ethyl lead in special purpose (Aviation) fuel, lead in batteries. The list of sources of lead for lead poisoning is a long one.
The metal lead by itself is fairly benign - in a compound lead is taken up in the food chain very quickly.
It is still unknown if the lead found in lead shot studies in waterfowl and other birds is really from lead shot or other sources like the 22 million tonnes of tetra ethyl lead that came out of the tail pipes of auto mobiles every year between 1923 and 1973...

[FLHTC]

All of the web sites posted are government based so i don't even bother opening them. Sure lead is toxic but so are many other substances in our environment but it's odd how lead becomes one of the few targets. How many are dying at epidemic rates, due to lead poison? The government (Aberdeen Proving Grounds) can litteraly destroy the aquatic balance of the Chesapeake bay and we have to worry about lead poisoning? We don't eat bullets but we do eat crab, clam and fish. I've heard too many stories come out of military retirees to beileve a single word of caution from the government. They do more to kill me than i could possibly do myself, even if i tried.

[Aunegl]

An oldie but a goody:

[wch]

I asked 3M about a respirator for smelting lead and they told me to buy the 3M8223 respirator; about $10.00 on the internet.