Thread: Blood lead levels

Very interesting!
So if you are not doing the bullet castings now, where are you getting your exposure to it?


Cheers, Mick.

Chewing on pencils, or Chinese baby formula?

It has been a long time since lead pencils have contained lead. Do you have any soft soldered water pipes or spend much time at an aerodrome?

Aaron

We used to have to do indicative testing (pee in a bottle) on a regular basis back when I worked as a fire assayer in a gold mine (you basically melt a sample of crushed ore in a flux mix of lead oxide - litharge - and other reagents to recover and weigh any contained gold).

If the "indicative" testing gave a positive reading, you then had to go up to the local hospital for blood testing, and depending on the level recorded, you were transferred to other duties for a period of time until your lead level came back below acceptable limits.

I don't know what my lead levels were - never failed the "indicative" test.

9 ug/dl is OK, but 90% of the population are below 5 ug/dl.

Assuming you don't case sinkers or bullets anymore, or use lead solder, you could try wearing a respirator when shooting.

Originally Posted by mick88

Very interesting!
So if you are not doing the bullet castings now, where are you getting your exposure to it?


Cheers, Mick.

Shooting is one source.

Workers in indoor gun ranges usually top the charts for occupational BLLs.

Also studies have shown that people eating wild game eat a fair bit of lead. Even when they think they have cut the bullet out there are micro lead fragments remaining. Hence the move to copper alloy projectiles (lead replacement or non-lead) in many areas.

Some levels from the literature:

BLL in poisoning victims:
30->80 ug/dL in children exposed to lead paint in older houses
77–104 ug/dL in persons working with pottery glazes
90–137 ug/dL in individuals consuming contaminated herbal medicines
109–139 ug/dL in indoor shooting range instructors
330 ug/dL in those drinking fruit juices from glazed earthenware containers

Also many radiators still use solder that is up to 98.5% lead.

Some reading for hunters...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2669501/

On that note, does anyone know a supplier of non-lead ammo in AU? I am having trouble finding one.

Originally Posted by mick88

Very interesting!
So if you are not doing the bullet castings now, where are you getting your exposure to it?


Cheers, Mick.

Sorry. Back then a lot of casting. Now , not so much but still doing it.
I have a fan on blowing the fumes away, I hope but must still be picking it up.
Keith

Originally Posted by Aaron IIA

It has been a long time since lead pencils have contained lead. Do you have any soft soldered water pipes or spend much time at an aerodrome?

Aaron

No. It must be the bullet casting somehow.
May be it affects some more than others.
Keith

Is it inhaled or thru the skin?