Lead Poisoning From Casting Bullets?

[Dphar]

Someone from my Church has been giving me lead sewer pipes for melting down for casting balls. Last Sunday he was talking to my Mother and asked her if she is comfortable with me melting down lead. Now my Mother is all worried and she was asking me this morning if I could just buy lead balls precast.

So my question is for those of you who have been casting lead for years. Have you ever had a blood test for the level of lead in your bloodstream and was it abnormally high?

I know 2 people who have been heavy bullet casters, hundreds of thousands between the 2. Both have been tested, both or normal to low normal.

The lead scare is complete ******** for the most part. People love to lump elemental lead with things like lead acetate. Lead as found in bullets is not terribly toxic. The Romans were not poisoned by lead pipes or etc. They were poisoned by lead acetate used to sweeten wine. Its very toxic, but its sweet and they used it for sugar.
Kids eating lead paint is about the same thing. Chances are they could eat the same weight of elemental lead and suffer no health effects.
If you take care not to eat any of the white coating and wash the lead oxide off your hands after handling/casting bullets you are safe.

Dan

 

[Dphar]

I was the laison engineer in our companies drop hammer dept. Basically the the die was kirksite & 99% of the punches were lead, when the parts came back for a second hit after anneal or heat treat, the operators would take a torch and burn the outside contact area of the lead punch for better contact with the material, this burning of the puch was the major cause of lead poisoning for the operators, but a mask fixed most of that, they went yearly for a blood test to check for lead poisoning.

But the temperatures are much higher at the torch flame than in lead casting. If you vaporize the lead so it can be inhaled its far different that melting it in a pot at far lower temps.

Dan

 

[poordevil]

I have been casting on my gas stove since 1974. I use the over head vent and stand to the side a bit. I don't cast every day and doubt you will either. I am sure you will be fine! Have fun.

P :hatsoff:

 

[J.D.]

-----what's the story about the muffler ?-----you got us wondering-----

Nothing other than a real warped sense of humor. :v :wink:

 

[brubincam]

-----AAAAHAAAAA I KNEW IT-----

 

[zodd]

Or was it a case of it being " a right purty muffler" :shocked2: --cheers zodd

 

[ihunts2much]

I can give you a first hand answer to this. I have been casting for a few years. I have had blood lead tests done because of my occupation.My Blood lead has never been elevated. I cast in my garage with a box fan blowing out the window over my work bench. Smoke from fluxing goes up and out the the window, never comes near my face. Not sure how important ventilation is, however hand washing is very important. Do not eat or smoke during or after casting until you have thoroughly washed your hands. The routes of entry for lead are inhalation and ingestion. Try to explain to your mom that ventilation and handwashing take care of these. I wouldn't mess around with a respirator. Amateur respirator use can do more harm than good.

 

[Tumblernotch]

I get a bit of a kick out of how concerned we are these days about things that used to be matter of fact no-concern events.

Of course, there is that nagging little statistic which shows the average age sky-rocketing during the past 50-75 years since all sorts of precautions are becoming public knowledge :hmm:

That, and the fact that we are being pickled by all the pharmaceuticals we take. :grin:

 

[Dphar]

I get a bit of a kick out of how concerned we are these days about things that used to be matter of fact no-concern events.

Of course, there is that nagging little statistic which shows the average age sky-rocketing during the past 50-75 years since all sorts of precautions are becoming public knowledge :hmm:

That, and the fact that we are being pickled by all the pharmaceuticals we take. :grin:

The bottom line you are more likely to get lead poisoning from your drinking water than from casting bullets. Most commercial orchards for example are heavily contaminated from a pesticide that used lead. Or so I have been told. But this is apparently not news worthy.
Thus when you hear something concerning lead bullet bans etc remember its not to protect the environment or people (or Condors) getting lead poisoning from eating animals shot with lead bullets. Its just a back door attack on shooting sports.

Dan

 

[CZMark]

Thus when you hear something concerning lead bullet bans etc remember its not to protect the environment or people (or Condors) getting lead poisoning from eating animals shot with lead bullets. Its just a back door attack on shooting sports.

Dan

This is the truest statement in the entire thread.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Someone from my Church has been giving me lead sewer pipes for melting down for casting balls. Last Sunday he was talking to my Mother and asked her if she is comfortable with me melting down lead. Now my Mother is all worried and she was asking me this morning if I could just buy lead balls precast.

So my question is for those of you who have been casting lead for years. Have you ever had a blood test for the level of lead in your bloodstream and was it abnormally high?

I know 2 people who have been heavy bullet casters, hundreds of thousands between the 2. Both have been tested, both or normal to low normal.

The lead scare is complete ******** for the most part. People love to lump elemental lead with things like lead acetate. Lead as found in bullets is not terribly toxic. The Romans were not poisoned by lead pipes or etc. They were poisoned by lead acetate used to sweeten wine. Its very toxic, but its sweet and they used it for sugar.
Kids eating lead paint is about the same thing. Chances are they could eat the same weight of elemental lead and suffer no health effects.
If you take care not to eat any of the white coating and wash the lead oxide off your hands after handling/casting bullets you are safe.

Dan

Actually the lead pipes and even lead solder can raise the lead level in your body. While it is true that lead acetate is a more dangerous compound, all lead in contact with food or drinking water is a major health concern. Which is why in this country (USA) lead free solder has been used in household copper pipes since the late seventies/early eighties. Back in the fifties and before there was a major health problem from people using lead soldered pipes as condensers when running home stills.

 

[M Kuhn]

Simonthecat:


I did have an accident last summer where some molten lead spilled and burned right through my sock. The result is a half-dollar size scar on my foot. But I didn't get ill and I worry about that because of my diabetes.

I don't think lead can be absorbed through tissues, At least I hope not.
I have a bullet in me that the doctor said was probably better left where it is rather than try to dig it out.
I asked him specifically if it wouldn't cause lead poisoning if they didn't remove it and his exact words were "You've been watching too much Gunsmoke, Don't worry about it"

 

[hthomso]

I have heard alot about the dangers of bullet casting and don't really know what to believe from a medical standpoing. But after many years of casting, my only advice would be, make sure your casting area is sufficiently ventilated and I don't think you will have any problems. I cast in a open garage with a box fan drawing the air away from the pot.

 

[lonehunter]

Its not the lead in the sewer pipes that would concern me, You know what runs through sewer pipes, right?? There is a far better chance of getting something from inside the pipes than the lead. I work for the wastewater division for a local city, you would not believe the shots we have to get before we can work in the field. please wear latex gloves when cutting up and melting the pipes, once melted you should be ok.
Gloves are cheap and can be found at drug stores, walmart, ect.. If you cant find any send me a P.M. i will see to it you get some. Gloves, proper ventilation and no liquids anywhere near the work area and you should be fine. Have fun and be carefull. :v

 

[Darkgael]

I have been casting a long time. I did, in fact, have an episode of "elevated lead level" in my blood some years ago. The "normal" lead level in an adult is under ten micrograms per dL. Anything over 25 and you start to get calls from the State health people who want to know how it happened. Mine went to 40.
I stopped shooting indoors and stopped casting. Lead comes out of the blood at about 2-3 mcgs per month. I got back to more normal levels in about 8 months. Normal for me seems to be about 12-15.
Why did it get so high? Sloppy habits indoors as well as a lot of gallery shooting.
I cast now in an open, well-ventilated area and the range has had its air system changed.
About lead sewer pipe - be very careful. If you see any white mineral deposit on the inside of the pipe, that deposit may have water in it even if the pipe has been out a long time. If you just drop it into a hot melt, it will explode (or it will seem so). How do I know this?
Pete

 

[paulvallandigham]

About lead bullets. If left in the body, the body treats it like any foreign object, and surrounds it with layers of calcium, and fat, to isolate it from the rest of the body. Sometimes this process leads to the bullet moving within muscles to rise away from major nerves to come closer to the surface, where they can be safely removed. A neighbor, whose's uncle had taken some German machine gun bullets in his leg, that had been left there, as they were too close to some arteries, one day came over to show us the bullets- in the later 1950s-- because his uncle had given them to him as a souvenir to take to school for "show and tell". The bullets had moved out closer to the skin, where they could be seen as dark blue objects under the flesh. The VA then removed the bullets, and removed the fatty tissue and calcium that surrounded them.

The bullets looked like the spent bullets you see in back stops only a lot cleaner. Other than the fact that they were in a sterile bottom marked VA. and his uncle's name, and the date of the surgery, I don't think you could tell the source of those bullets from anything else.

His Uncle visited again a couple of weekends later, and was using a cane to get around, while his leg healed. We were introduced, and he told us he was shot in the Italian campaign.

I too watched Gunsmoke all the years it was on, and still see the reruns at times. I knew back then that all that Lead Poisoning stuff was just "Hollywood". What killed people back then was infections caused by dirt and lint carried into the body from the clothing worn by the victim. Remember that we did not have Anti-biotics until 1940, and then it was a military secret that was not disclosed until later in the war. People died from infections, and sepsis that set in from the infections.

 

[Soractus]

Lead is bad news. As shooters and sportsmen, we tend to poo-poo the risks because of the ridiculous hysteria thrown at us by the Antis and their media. But although it's not a doomsday material, you have to know how to be safe with it.

Free, elemental lead (and its compounds) are bad news when they're in the body. Antimony is worse. They're among the nastiest carcinogens you can get, little free-radical machines. Lead is absorbed most readily through the lungs, then the mucus membranes in your sinuses, the eyes, and then through the skin.

As has been mentioned, limiting exposure is the key. Biting into a #4-shot in your duck is no big deal, aside from the stabbing pain in your jaw, but be careful with molten lead. Melt and pour wearing good goggles and a respirator. Put in a good hood or a fan if you're inside, and if outdoors, do it with the breeze blowing across your front - wind from directly astern will end up sucking some fumes back into your face. Scrub your hands after handling lead, and take a shower after casting.

The dangers of lead are overblown, but that doesn't mean it's inert, either.

 

[OB OBrien]

Hmmmm; Pete; I just got about 50 pounds of lead from a roofer buddy of mine. It's the lead sheathing that goes around pipes sticking up out of ones roof. They have a white deposit on the outside. Should I be concerned about a possible water content?
Thanks OB

 

[R.M.]

In order to overcome the moisture issue, just put your scrap lead into your pot while there's no molten lead. By the time the scrap melts, all the moisture will have evaporated.It's when the moisture, even one drop, gets under the surface of the melted lead it gets special. That one drop will instantly turn to steam, and throw molten lead all over. Should that drop end up just on the surface, it will still turn to steam, but that steam will just rise into the atmosphere.

 

[OB OBrien]

Good info. Thanks R.M. I have a large cast iron pot and a fish cookin burner. I'll do it that way.
OB