A Manageable Hazard
Aiming for Lower Lead Exposure
By Anonymous
The author of this article works in the health and safety field, and is
an avid shooter. I asked him to write this piece to inform all of us,
new and experienced shooters alike, about the risk of lead overexposure
and how to manage that risk. I'm grateful he took the time and effort
to do it.
~ Kathy
Lead exposure in the shooting sports is a real hazard that all shooters
should be aware of. We all understand the need to protect our hearing
and eyes, but not everyone is aware of the hazard of lead exposure. Understanding
a hazard exists allows us the opportunity to address it and continue to
enjoy shooting safely. Lead is no different and its hazards can be controlled.
Shooting and Exposure to Lead
We’re all familiar with the fact that lead is used in making bullets,
but not every shooter remembers that lead compounds are used in most primers
these days. Lead from the unjacketed bullet shooting down the barrel,
lead vaporized from the base of the bullet and lead from the burned primer
sprays out in a cloud when the bullet is fired. The fumes and fine particles
of lead don’t travel much more than 3-5 feet but that is far enough to
be in the air we breathe and to settle on the gun, clothing and skin (think
gunshot residue).
After a range session we have another opportunity to become exposed to
lead when we clean our firearms. Lead obviously will be deposited on the
inside of the barrel and chamber, but the lead deposited on skin and clothing
during shooting is also deposited on the surface of the firearms. When
we clean them we use solvents that may actually cause this lead to be
absorbed into the skin more readily.
A third opportunity comes if we collect our brass. There is lead residue
on the brass. Handling it provides another opportunity for exposure.
An Unfamiliar Firearms Safety Hazard
Unlike the familiar hazards of negligent discharges and noise most shooters
only have a vague idea about the hazards associated with lead.
The vaporized lead obviously can be inhaled, but the particles of lead
sheared off as an unjacketed bullet travels down the barrel are small
enough to be easily inhaled as well. Once inhaled the lead readily crosses
to the bloodstream and is distributed throughout the body. It is absorbed
like calcium and interferes with iron absorption and can be deposited
in bone and fat and other soft tissue.
Lead can also settle on the skin and hair where it can be absorbed through
the skin. If lead particles reach the mouth they can be ingested and absorbed
through the digestive system.
Lead has been in use for thousands of years and its hazards have been
well chronicled. These were well known before OSHA and EPA regulations
directed at limiting lead exposure were ever developed. Shooters should
take precautions to control all unnecessary exposure to lead. Knowing
the hazards is first step in controlling the hazards. Taking the necessary
precautions to minimize exposure is an essential part of shooting safety
like use of hearing and eye protection.
Effects of Lead on the Body
There is no useful purpose in the human body for the lead we absorb. The
body absorbs some ingested lead, but we absorb almost all of the lead
that is inhaled (children absorb much more from ingestion). The body chemically
“sees” lead as calcium and absorbs it readily. While lead is deposited
in the blood or soft body tissues, such as the kidneys and brain, the
vast majority of it is deposited in bone. Because the body treats lead
like calcium, the lead is stored for long periods of time and can actually
increase in concentration as exposure continues.
The body does break down lead slowly over years so that it can be removed.
The problem is this takes place very slowly. Only half the lead in your
body today will be gone after 20 years.
Symptoms of Lead Exposure
Lead can damage the nervous system, kidneys, and reproductive system regardless
of how it enters the body. Lead absorbed into the body initially affects
the nervous system. This can lead to irritability, aggressive behavior,
depression, loss of sensation in fingers and face, weakness in the fingers,
wrists and ankles (wrist drop), headaches, loss of sexual function and
impotence. Other symptoms include low appetite, loss of energy, abdominal
pain, nausea, constipation, muscle pain, muscle weakness, high blood pressure
and weight loss.
Men suffer loss of sex drive, reduced sexual function and impotence if
lead levels reach high enough concentrations. Lead can also alter the
structure of sperm cells potentially causing birth defects.
Pregnant women are vulnerable to rapid absorption of lead, along with
calcium, from the blood into the bone. This occurs due to metabolic changes
caused by pregnancy. In pregnant women, lead passes through the placenta
to the fetus, potentially causing miscarriages and birth defects.
Remember that adults absorb about 20% of the lead we ingest. Children
absorb about 70% of the lead they ingest. Since children are constantly
putting things in their mouths or failing to wash their hands before they
put their fingers in their mouths ingestion is their primary route of
exposure. Think of all the times you’ve had to tell your kids to “put
that down and wash your hands”. Exposure to lead may result in slow learning,
slow growth, hearing loss and behavioral problems.
With all the various symptoms over-exposure to lead can be mistaken for
many other problems. This makes it particularly difficult to diagnose
unless the physician is aware of our potential exposure. With this knowledge
a simple set of blood tests can tell us if we have become over-exposed
to lead.
Testing for Lead
Your doctor can take a blood sample and test for lead using BLL and ZPP
tests. These tests give results in micrograms per deciliter of blood.
A Blood Lead Level (BLL) less than 20 for an adult and a Zinc Protoporphyrin
(ZPP) below 100 may not be hazardous in the short term, but if the BLL
is above 10 it indicates possible lead exposure that should be reduced.
Any BLL near or above 10 for children should be cause for immediate concern.
These tests are a simple and inexpensive way for shooters to know if the
things they’re doing to keep their lead exposure down are working.
Precautions on the Range
Simple precautions can be taken both on and off the range to reduce lead
exposure to shooters and their families. Good hygiene and limiting exposure
times go a long way towards preventing problems.
- No Smoking, Eating or Drinking
You should never smoke during or immediately after shooting. Lead on your
hands is transferred to the cigarette where it is drawn in with the smoke.
The best practice is to leave everything that is not going to be used
for shooting outside the range so it can’t be contaminated with any lead
that may be present and that includes your “smokes”.
Lead dust on hands and face can be ingested through contact with food
or by touching the face. Airborne lead can settle on food and drinks kept
on the range or that you consume before washing up. Sealed water bottles
may keep lead out of the water, but any lead on your hands and face and
on the outside of the container can easily transfer to the mouth if it
isn’t cleaned off first. Controlling this hazard is as simple as leaving
all food and drinks off the range and washing hands and face before eating
and drinking.
- Lead on Fired Brass
Many shooters collect spent brass for reuse. The same brass that just
came out of their firearm with lead deposited on it. It’s easy to put
the brass in pockets or range bags or even caps. This further contaminates
the clothing we’re wearing with lead. Using boxes or bags for the brass
can help prevent this.
- Lead on Face, Arms, and Hands
Hand Sanitizers:
Good for Germs, Useless for Lead
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, like Purell or Dial Anti-Microbial, do
absolutely nothing to remove lead from the hands. All they do is kill
germs. Lead (and most other particulate matter) is most easily removed
with running water and some soap; in a pinch, a wet cloth will do the
trick.
|
Shooters should wash hands, forearms and face thoroughly with cool water
and plenty of soap. Use cold or room temperature water because warm water
opens the pores of the skin helping lead to enter the skin. If no water
is available, shooters should consider using wet hand wipes or a bottle
of cool water and a washcloth to clean the hands and face. This prevents
the transfer of lead to the food or beverages we drink preventing its
ingestion.
- Lead on Clothing
Shooters should consider wearing clothes they could change out of before
driving home. Something as simple as a long sleeve shirt helps a lot.
Do NOT blow, shake or use any means that will disperse lead into the air
to try to remove lead from your clothing. To prevent cross-contamination,
range clothes should be washed separately from the family's regular laundry
and an empty load run after the range clothes are washed. Families with
infants should be careful to keep contamination away from where children
crawl or pull up or that they may get into their mouths, since infants
are particularly vulnerable to lead contamination by ingestion. Changing
to clean clothing before leaving the range prevents contamination of the
hands and any contamination of vehicles.
Just like a “range shirt” that can be taken off and laundered can help
keep lead from following you into the house a pair of range shoes that
you change after shooting can help prevent you from tracking lead into
the vehicle and home. If you can’t use a separate pair of range shoes
remember to take your shoes off before coming into the house. Simple wiping
of the shoes with a disposable cleaning wipe will help remove much of
the lead. Remember, if you bring lead home ordinary vacuuming blows it
into the air for everyone to become exposed.
- Shower, Shampoo, and Change of Clothes
Lead can be transferred to others by contact. This is a much greater problem
for professional shooters than casual shooters who spend long hours on
the range but everyone should be aware of the potential. Try to avoid
physical contact that could transfer lead dust to friends and family until
after cleaning up and changing clothes.
Indoor Ranges
Most indoor ranges have a greater potential for lead exposure problems
than outdoor ranges. However, the range can institute several controls
to lower the amount of lead dust in these facilities.
The choice of ammunition is one such control. Non-jacketed ammunition
produces the most lead dust and fumes, fully jacketed ammunition less
and lead-free ammunition, obviously, the least. Shotgun shells produce
more airborne lead dust than any handgun round. Currently, many ammunition
manufacturers make available lead-free ammunition that does away with
lead compounds in both the primer and the bullet. From a personal standpoint
using lead-free primer ammunition with fully jacketed bullets or lead-free
bullets will have the greatest benefit for individual shooters.
Indoor ranges should not be carpeted, since lead dust settles and contaminates
the rugs. A commercial High Efficiency Particulate (HEPA) vacuum should
be used to vacuum these carpets.
Air should move from behind the shooters downrange taking as much of the
lead from the firing of the firearms away from the shooter. The air in
the range should not be reused or, if reused, it should be filtered so
the air that blows across the shooter is cleaned of lead. Remember, if
there’s a constant cloud of “gunsmoke” and you can taste the sweetish
metallic taste of lead in the air it’s probably not clean enough for a
long shooting session.
Cleaning Firearms
For some of us, cleaning our firearms can be almost as relaxing as our
range session. It also represents another opportunity to become exposed
to lead that we can easily control.
Some tips for reducing lead exposure when cleaning guns:
-
Wear nitrile gloves when cleaning your guns to keep the lead and cleaning
solutions off your hands. (Latex gloves are fine
if you don’t use solvent-based cleaners, but are of little use with solvents, because
they tend to dissolve.)
-
Clean guns on a surface that isn’t porous and can be cleaned, or on
something that can be thrown away.
-
Never use pressurized air to blow the
surfaces clean or blow excess solvent/oil off while inside the home/shop.
-
Always clean your cleaning area right after each cleaning session. Place all disposable material in a sealed trash bag and throw it away.
-
Remember to wash your hands and face just like you do after a range session.
Remember, the goal is to keep the lead from getting spread throughout the home and
these methods will help prevent that.
What Does It All Mean?
Just as we all learned the importance of using eye and ear protection,
we have learned that lead exposure can threaten the health of shooters
and our enjoyment of the sport. However, through good range practices
and proper hygiene shooters can control their exposure to lead and keep
it down to safe levels.
References and Further Reading
|