Thoughts on Long-Term Effects of Shooting (Lead/Heavy Metals)

[WickedWillis]

I have become more concerned about this lately. I had been storing my ammo in ammo cans in my game room (just a bedroom with a couch and a TV) with the rest of my accessories that don't need to be in the safe. Being concerned, I moved all of my ammo to the garage. I will bring it in to load, but even loading now I use nitrile gloves, unless I'm at the range obviously.

I limit my indoor shooting as much as I can, but some days I'm lazy and it's easier to drive two minutes to the local indoor, than 25 minutes to my outdoor. Hopefully we will get some good information in this thread that can help all of us.

Just a quick edit, I plan to start doing a yearly blood test to make sure my I don't have high levels of lead from shooting too.

[Ron3]

I have become more concerned about this lately. I had been storing my ammo in ammo cans in my game room (just a bedroom with a couch and a TV) with the rest of my accessories that don't need to be in the safe. Being concerned, I moved all of my ammo to the garage. I will bring it in to load, but even loading now I use nitrile gloves, unless I'm at the range obviously.

It wont hurt ya when its sitting around. Only inhaling / eating particulates of it from firing / reloading ammo / cleaning.

Ammo keeps better stored inside.

[kerplode]

I use nitrile gloves when I clean guns and reload. Also, the indoor range I use has good ventilation. Overall, though, I just don't really worry about it that much...It's so far down the list of shit that'll probably kill me some day that it's not really even on the radar.

Growing up, I:
- Second-hand smoked at least two packs of Pall Malls a day
- Drank municipal water that was almost certainly contaminated by the United Nuclear tailings pond spill
- Spent endless hours playing in a basement that was guaranteed to be bathed in Radon (see above)
- The Orkin man saturated the foundation of our house in Chlordane to kill termites.
- Routinely used leaded gas, bare hands, and a toothbrush to clean dirty parts
- Spent several years breathing depleted uranium dust blown in from contaminated test sties around EMRTC

So, yeah...Not all that worried about lead exposure from shooting.

The leading cause of death is living. Besides, I can't even begin to imagine what a flaming socialist distopia shit-show this country will be in another 30 or 40 years, so if lead or uranium get me before then, that'll probably be a blessing.

[Honu]

contest of chewing the most flat peices shot might have not been a good thing to do in my youth

[223to45]

My wife and I do a lot of competitions.
Sometimes take snacks with us.

So we use these wet wipes that are designed remove lead and other heavy metals .

Does anyone know if these really work??



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[Pappabear]

Before I ran into some recent health challenges, I shot Sunday outdoor LR shooting, Indoor one pistol match and one outdoors match.

The pistol match always freaked me out when some dude rattles off several mags and leaves a Diesel truck puff cloud. Im like, IM OUT. I wear gloves when I clean my guns, more cause I am a hand model than danger. The last two times I shot a 50, my back hurt bad. This thread makes me wonder, if the reason for my recent hurniated disc. was not related. Didn't hurt when I did it, still makes me wonder.

PB

[davidjinks]

I’m in a lead abatement program for the work I do. 4 years and I’ve never come close the the action levels.

My personal opinion is this: Hygiene, don’t lick your suppressors after shooting, wear some latex gloves while cleaning, and make sure your ventilation is good.

I've done a small amount of research on the long-term effects of shooting in regard to exposure to heavy metals. The best source I've found so far is the military, but it seems even their research is limited (probably some liability concerns). We all know what's in ammo and in any other circumstances you wouldn't willfully expose you or friends/family to the same substances. This is stuff that stays in your body forever, with the only plausible treatment basically being a form of dialysis that is incredibly expensive. I really started to consider it after my last trip to the local indoor range. It's dark and I've always felt the ventilation is terrible - and I have no idea if there's any kind of regulation of them in the state where it's located. I enjoy shooting outdoors a lot more, but we have 4 very distinct seasons, so that's not always an option. Besides, from what I've read, it doesn't decrease your exposure all that much.

To mitigate exposure, I wear exam gloves when I clean my guns and if I'm loading more than a few mags of ammo. Other than that, I'm not really sure what else there is to do, practically.

So, I'm curious, what are your thoughts on the long-term health effects of our hobby/profession? Do you guys take any steps to mitigate it?

[SomeOtherGuy]

I’m in a lead abatement program for the work I do. 4 years and I’ve never come close the the action levels.
My personal opinion is this: Hygiene, don’t lick your suppressors after shooting, wear some latex gloves while cleaning, and make sure your ventilation is good.

From what I've read elsewhere, the people who show up with dangerous lead levels in their body are either reloaders who dry tumble and sift cases (massive exposure to primer residue in fine dust form) or people whose job, 40 hrs/week, is working at an indoor range (often police or military, not necessarily private sector).

[Averageman]

I use nitrile gloves when I clean guns and reload. Also, the indoor range I use has good ventilation. Overall, though, I just don't really worry about it that much...It's so far down the list of shit that'll probably kill me some day that it's not really even on the radar.

Growing up, I:
- Second-hand smoked at least two packs of Pall Malls a day
- Drank municipal water that was almost certainly contaminated by the United Nuclear tailings pond spill
- Spent endless hours playing in a basement that was guaranteed to be bathed in Radon (see above)
- The Orkin man saturated the foundation of our house in Chlordane to kill termites.
- Routinely used leaded gas, bare hands, and a toothbrush to clean dirty parts
- Spent several years breathing depleted uranium dust blown in from contaminated test sties around EMRTC

So, yeah...Not all that worried about lead exposure from shooting.

The leading cause of death is living. Besides, I can't even begin to imagine what a flaming socialist distopia shit-show this country will be in another 30 or 40 years, so if lead or uranium get me before then, that'll probably be a blessing.

Yep, all of the above.
I'm a child of the 60's lead was everywhere.

[Firefly]

Everybody gotta die sometime, Red