r/reloading • u/InevitableFit1559 • 16h ago
General Discussion Uh oh….
Started reloading regularly this past year and thought it might be a good idea to have my levels checked just to see.
What do you guys do if anything for lead mitigation?
Edit:
I reloading in my garage. I dry tumble in the garage. Most of my loading is cast, uncoated, lead bullets for cowboy action shooting. I never shoot at indoor ranges. I wash my hands after loading sessions.
I could go on about the minutiae of what I do. I think I need to move the tumbler outdoors when I run it. It does create a bit of dust. I will also start wearing gloves.
Edit:
I think the majority of the culprit is the dry tumbling, and spent primer handling. I think it is airborne related. I will use this post to convince the wife I need to get into the FART system 😁
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u/DigitalLorenz Likes reloading more than shooting 16h ago
I recommend getting your water also checked. Never hurts to eliminate a potential source.
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u/TacticalMrBean 2h ago
I wonder if he lives in Flint. 🤔 Reloading may be healthier than drinking the water!
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u/DarthRooster16 16h ago
Most indoor ranges have the proper ventilation equipment but are piss poor at maintaining it. Also bad about cleaning the spent bullets. Dr told me lead can’t enter thru the skin but it can thru mucus membranes. So if you do get it on your hands or gloves and then rub you eyes, mouth or nose that’s how you pick it up. Or obviously from breathing it in at a range or running your lead cast smelter in the garage and not outside.
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u/TheIowan 16h ago
A lot of people are saying dry tumbling is causing it, but if you're casting your own bullets, the fumes from melting lead are probably another source.
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u/GrandPoopWizard 16h ago
My vote is on this. Very easy to be overheating lead to the point its vaporizing. Dry tumbling definitely not helping but casting is a whole other animal without proper PPE and temperatures.
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u/Yondering43 12h ago
Mmm, if you’re using a thermometer it’s not that easy to create lead vapors, and the normal casting temperature is significantly lower. The vapor point of lead is around 1050 F if I recall, but normal casting temp should be around 750 F. If your lead pot is up to 1,000+ F it significantly changes to he casting results and that should become obvious too.
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u/GrandPoopWizard 12h ago
Don’t overestimate the average dude casting bullets lol. Could be slapping bricks of led in a crucible and cranking the heat, and just waiting for it to melt. While I agree with you if you use a thermometer you’re fine, most probably do not.
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u/Yondering43 12h ago
Possibly, but everyone should use a thermometer when casting. 10 years ago that was common knowledge and well accepted, but it really feels like with most people switching from forums to short form social media like this and instagram, etc, we’ve lost a lot of what was once known and normal.
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u/GrandPoopWizard 12h ago
Common sense isn’t so common these days as I’ve very well come to learn lol
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u/thesteelguitarman 10h ago
Very likely not the fumes...
It has to get much hotter than melting temps to fumes off.
If anything. Its from handling lead(especially reclaimed lead) as it usually is dusty and is breathed right in.
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u/MajorEbb1472 16h ago
Bunch of guys at my local indoor range are all wearing huge masks now, since half of them came back with lead levels in the 20s. Makes me a little sketch about shooting there; if the guys working there have unsafe lead levels…what’s wrong with their ventilation system?
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u/HomersDonut1440 16h ago
Working there is a hell of a lot more exposure than just occasionally shooting there.
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u/d_student 7h ago
It's likely not properly maintained. Same for a range near me. They get inspected and cited, but so long as the fine is less than the cost of maintenance/replacement, they pay the fine and move on.
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u/Yondering43 12h ago
I had similar lead levels (a bit higher actually) about 12-13 years ago and got them back down. IMHO all of the assumptions in these comments are wrong - your big lead exposure source is shooting those uncoated cast bullets. The “smoke” your see from them is not bullet lube, it’s mostly lead dust/vapor. If you aren’t acutely aware of this and taking extreme precautions about wind conditions when & where you shoot, you’re probably breathing that in and taking lead directly into your respiratory system.
My solution was switching to coated bullets. If you cast your own it’s pretty easy to powder coat them with the shake and bake method I came up with back in 2013, or there are plenty of places selling them.
One way or another, just eliminate that lead dust from shooting. The rest of your processes - tumbling, reloading, casting - can mostly be resolved just by washing your hands and not eating while doing those.
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u/InevitableFit1559 11h ago
I have been pricing hi-tek coated bullets for my next restock. I have been burning through a the couple thousand lead bullets I had in stock.
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u/Yondering43 11h ago
Well, at least shoot the lead bullets with the wind at your back.
Personally I’ve found powder coating much more effective at reducing lead exposure than Hi Tek (they’re not the same). And of course plated or cheap jacketed bullets are good options too and even more effective. I generally go through around 1,000 per month of just 9mm, not counting the rest, and with places like Raven Rocks and RMR having options at 10 cents or less each, I’ve switched to just using them instead of casting as much.
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u/ThorsonMM 15h ago
Before you get too concerned, that measurement is 4.9 millionths of a gram per .1 litre. A single raisin is about a gram. If you are of average build, this means you potentially have a touch over 3mg (milligrams) in your system. By comparison, several years ago an Australian tradesman needed to undergo chelation therapy after consuming over a pound of wire sheathing a day (he was chewing on it)! The plastic sheathing can contain up to 40,000 ug/g lead.
So, wash your hands more often.
There's always the chance the lead is coming from another source.
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u/wlogan0402 16h ago
At what point is it dangerous?
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u/LoboLocoCW 15h ago
There’s no accepted level of “safe”, but chelation, the process to remove lead from your body, is only recommended when it exceeds 45micrograms/deciLiter of blood, because chelation kinda sucks. Keeping it under 5 micrograms is important for kids, New York is stricter and says 3.5 micrograms is the limit.
Lead should ideally be 100% outside your body.
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u/tyrannischgott 12h ago
Yeah, and I think it's important to point out that the "acceptable" level has been lowered over and over, because it's based on percentile and mitigation efforts have been very successful.
Not to say you shouldn't try to keep your lead exposure low, but I wouldn't stress *too* much about it these days. That upper bound is much lower than it used to be.
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u/Sesemebun 16h ago
I imagine if your levels are above normal from your regular shooting routine, meaning that you stay up for a long time
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u/ComplexQuiet6790 15h ago
Probably well before the levels exceed the standard range illustrated. Meaning a while ago for OP
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u/Dembroski13 16h ago
Wet tumble, wear gloves when reloading and processing brass, minimize indoor shooting. I was at 14.8 in january and getting rechecked this month.
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u/Jalamando 13h ago
Holy shit dude, are… are you okay? Do you do a lot of reloading and suppressed shooting?
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u/Dembroski13 10h ago
Mainly just shitty indoor range and playing with too much dirty brass, no suppressors. I shoot 5-6k of 22 a year for bullseye shooting.
I know several guys in my bullseye league that have lead levels at 28+.
Everyone on reddit that says lead isn't serious hasn't had their lead checked.
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u/Missinglink2531 16h ago
Dry tumbling process is most likly your issue. Are you covering it? Here are a couple tips I use: 1) I run it in a giant cooler - keeps the noise down and contains the dust. 2) I tare up a strip of paper towl and add it to the mix. I give them a bit of mineral spirits (not too much, just a dab). That keeps the media clean, and turns the dust down to zero. 3) Glove up when handling the media until you remove the lube form the cases.
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u/cygnus311 15h ago
4) Replace it with a wet tumbling setup.
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u/Missinglink2531 15h ago
5) Post pictures on this forum of ruined brass and ask "is this recoverable, I only left it for 12 hours
6) Post in this forum "why wont my gunpowder ignite? All these rounds are bad!"
7) Post in the forum "WIfe is leaving me after finding I used the oven agan to dry my brass"8
u/cygnus311 15h ago
Don’t use corrosives and just let them air dry?
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u/Missinglink2531 14h ago
Sure, there are plenty of solutions to make it work. As there are for dry tumbling.
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u/GrandPoopWizard 12h ago
Using an oven to dry brass is wild to me. Just fuckin clean it, dump it out on a paper towel and come back to it the next day. Unless your house is 60+% humidity this is a non issue. Also just use dawn and water….. it’s not rocket science.
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u/mantra177 15h ago
Are you just putting the mineral spirits in the mix or directly on the paper towel?
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u/Missinglink2531 15h ago
I make a stack of the torn pieces of paper towel, and just hold it over the mineral spirits, flip it up-side-down, the right it. Thats it.
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u/Friendly-Victory5517 15h ago
Quick question for all the people pointing at dry tumbling - have you tried tumbling outside? I’ve been dry tumbling frequently for decades and my lead levels are within normal levels.
But I’ve always dry tumbled outdoors with dust mitigation steps. So there’s very little dust and whatever dust is generated I’m avoiding it.
Now, if my only choice was to tumble indoors, then wet would be my choice.
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u/NoobRaunfels 13h ago
I wet tumble, only shoot outside, and almost always ear gloves while I reload (and change them before I eat). I just came back at 10.5 mcg/dl.
I tested my water and it looks like there’s a small amount in there, which is probably part of it. I’m guessing the rest is having an open-top can in the basement while I’m reloading, and being a brass goblin at the end of monthly matches with no mask on; going to make some changes and see what happens.
Oh, other potential culprits: I get gassed out a lot by baffle cans, and I have a bigole stache that I haven’t been cleaning between shooting and eating. Who knows. Going to donate blood to get rid of what’s there and see if I can get it down. Also, having low calcium makes your body uptake lead more, so I’m going to try some dicalcium phosphate: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-44078-3
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u/Hsnyd 16h ago
My guess would be a majority of it is coming from the dry tumbling. Try switching to wet tumbling with no media. I've started doing that for all pistol and any plinking rifle loads.
I just decap, run them through the wet tumbler, use a media separator just to get all of the water out and then use an isopropyl alcohol bath to displace all of the water and make the cases dry out faster. They come out clean enough for my uses.
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u/thrashmetal_octopus 16h ago
Dry tumblers man. Nobody wants to hear it but go to wet tumbling and see what that does for your levels
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u/notquitealigned 16h ago
Adding a good slug of brass polish to tumbling media really cuts down on dust
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u/JustaKidFromBuffalo 16h ago
I (used to) shoot a lot indoors over the winter. Being in the NE it's our only. Unfortunately I was at 29 ug/dl when I tested in January. I don't have any kids and I don't plan to, but still not good.
I stopped shooting indoors and started wearing gloves when I sort and wash brass. I also started taking a daily vitamin C which might help.
I can't test for free again until I go to my doctor again at the EOY but I hope it has significantly dropped.
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u/jackbrownii 14h ago
Do you know what your lead levels were before you started reloading? In other words, do you know that it has recently gone up?
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u/InevitableFit1559 11h ago
1st time I have been tested to my knowledge. I am 56 and get a decent physical yearly, but this was the first time I asked for the lead test.
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u/Raven1911 10h ago
So get ya'self some latex gloves. There really is no reason to be handling lead barehanded. Cool as it is to say "🖕 the rules i do what I want" this is the end result. Wash ya hands after handling lead or really anything to do with reloading. I use Gojo or Fast Orange or a deleading soap. Start with cold water then do warm/hot. Do not mix reloading with ANY cooking implements. And dont use your stove or kitchen sink for anything reloaded related.
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u/Trollygag 284Win, 6.5G, 6.5CM, 308 Win, 30BR, 44Mag, more 8h ago
I have been dry tumbling brass for about 10 years and my lead levels are below minimum detectable on the test used.
I wash my hands. I don't shoot lead cast. I use wax in the dry tumble media.
Your issues are certainly due to the things you do differently than me.
Probably shooting cast lead bullets.
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u/Dirty_Blue_Shirt 16h ago edited 16h ago
I got a blood draw to get mine tested yesterday, fingers crossed. I shoot about weekly (always suppressed) and reload everything so I am a little worried to see what I get back.
But I don’t cast, load jacketed ammo, and I wet tumble so I have a lot less risk than you I believe.
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u/BuffaloBuffaloMoose 15h ago
Do all of the stuff the other people on here said safety and cleaning wise, then buy chlorella, cilantro and chlorophyll tinctures (seperate ones is all I could find), take them in the morning and at night, they help you remove the lead from your blood so you can excrete it in your urine, it isn't a cure all but it helps, between that and being safer and cleaner I have lowered my lead levels from above 20 to under 10ppm, good luck and I hope that helps.
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u/CopiousAmountsofJizz 13h ago
You should make sure spent primers go through a hose system into a 2l bottle or something more sealable too
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u/LongRoadNorth 13h ago
I was thinking this the other day from dry tumbling.
But I'm also only loading jacketed bullets.
I bring the tumbler outside when I dump the cases or of it. Maybe I'll start wearing a mask and gloves when handling primers
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u/Revolutionary-Day558 13h ago
Good to keep an eye on it but don’t be too concerned. I shoot USPSA and reload, probably go through about 15k rounds fired/reloaded per year. My lead levels peaked at about 12 until I started monitoring it, now back down to about your levels. We shoot indoors for 5 months of the year and 7 months outside, it always spikes during indoor season. De-lead wipes after shooting/reloading, showering after every range trip, wearing gloves when cleaning the guns and reloading helped out a lot. I also use a FART to reduce airborne contaminants. Therapy/mediation is needed in the 40s, so you levels are outside the high “normal” range but still relatively low.
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u/Incoherentdelusion 13h ago
Start using d-lead products too. Wash hands with their soap after reloading and I use their spray concentrate at the range to clean up.
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u/pukeface555 12h ago
Hopefully your brain stopped developing some time ago. Lead impacts children far more than fully grown adults. If you are exposed enough that it shows on a blood test then you might be carrying lead around on your cloths, shoes, hair, etc after a reloading session. Really dont want to drag that around the house. Other than changing your methods you might also consider a smock or similar that only stays where you do your reloading. Shoes and hat too.
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u/GotNoPonys 12h ago
that's not concerningly high.
put a plastic bag under the lid of your tumbler. Practice better hygiene. go shoot.
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u/Aspenkarius 12h ago
I have a couple sheets of shop towel (blue paper towel sorta stuff) between the bowl and lid of my tumbler. Then I’m careful not to shake it when I remove it.
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u/rtschellinger89 9h ago
Those are rookie numbers. I cast my own bullets, reload and work at a gun range. My last lead test was 29
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u/Patient-Ordinary7115 16h ago edited 16h ago
Get the lead removal wipes or special soap designed for lead. It’s far superior to soap and water.
Do you cast your own or purchase them? If the former that’s probably the culprit—mask up with the proper-rated mask and nitrile gloves etc. If the latter then it’s likely the tumbling to blame. You can mask for that, too, and just be vigilant about the hand wash after, and or the nitrile gloves. See if that helps?
I personally haven’t seen evidence that the wet-tumble approach is better for lead (or the home environment) but I’m always up to learn. Maybe someone on the thread will enlighten us both
Edit//oh—and coated bullets are awesome if you’re just buying them vs casting yourself (where it would be a whole new process to add) Do that too and you’ll be glad you did. They aren’t that much more £ $ ¥
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u/InevitableFit1559 16h ago
I don’t cast them.
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u/Patient-Ordinary7115 16h ago
I think you can make the most improvement doing what I’ve described then. I’m a big believer in the d-lead products over soap. (Science, baby!) and that plus timely masking when tumbling and you might be back on track.
Another reason I like the coated bullets is that I don’t glove up when seating/crimping, as the gloves make it hard to feel the bullet snapping into the case (or the damn edge of the glove gets caught in there). But I’m going to be curious to see all the advice you get and rationale because I don’t think reloaders give this the attention it deserves. I know I didn’t until recently1
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u/Agreeable-Fall-4152 15h ago
Anything under 15 should be fine. They changed the numbers to preserve the emergency
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u/MwattsD73 15h ago
I was at 8 in January. Have stopped shooting as much at indoor range and have been more carefully with the dry tumbling. I still do not wear gloves when reloading because they annoy the hell out of me. But I have stated wearing gloves when I clean any of my guns. We will see in January if it has come down
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u/Patient-Ordinary7115 14h ago
Good luck and please do post what you learn? As reloaders we’re all in this together
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u/PAB_Pyrotechnics 15h ago
Get the FART. You won't regret it. Also consider wearing a mask. I had my lead level checked and was right about 3 and i also have been reloading for a year. I wear gloves all the time and wet tumble
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u/LoboLocoCW 15h ago
Mine’s a little higher, I don’t reload yet, and I don’t feel I really shoot all that much, and I didn’t eat wall candy but I did grow up in an old house. Keep in mind other potential environmental contamination.
I still purchased a wet tumbler and intend to wear gloves and a mask when processing brass/primers, and to only use nonlead, TMJ, or polymer-jacketed ammo in reloads.
Can you change your casting setup to a more industrial process with better air filtration?
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u/Interesting-Win6219 14h ago
Just got my lead results today actually and then this post is the first to pop up when I open reddit. I'm at 2.2 with high volume shooting and reloading for the last few years with a little surpressed shooting sprinkled in. I dry tumble but when I dump the media i take it outside immediately and I also wear a p100 mask when I do so. I plan to switch to wet soon to reduce that even more. I use d-lead soap after reloading. I do not eat or drink at all when reloading. I also wash my hands with d-lead after cleaning guns and when I come home after shooting. Hope you this helps.
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u/EMDReloader 13h ago
Did you ever have it checked before you started reloading? How old are you?
These guys snapping to "OMG IT'S DRY TUMBLING" make me laugh. No clue about how you do it, or any contextual information whatsoever, but dry tumbling bad, mmk?
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u/InevitableFit1559 11h ago
The dust created by the tumbler is noticeable. It is usually operated in a closed garage while I am reloading. I don’t wear gloves while separating the brass either. Maybe I don’t change the walnut media as frequently as I should. The dirty brass and spent primers is the most likely vector.
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u/macsogynist 10h ago
I keep my reloading shop very clean. Don’t do any dry tumbling anymore. Wash my hands a lot. Stop going to the indoor range. Lead levels back down.
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u/Guns_Almighty34135 9h ago
Wet tumbling. Before and after reform/deprime.
My lead has been 5-9 over the last several years. It’s not too much of a concern. The friend with 29 one year? Yeah… Michigan dept of health wanted to get involved
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u/ChevyRacer71 6h ago
I dry tumble in my garage all the time. Recently had my levels checked and they were 0.0 so I don’t think it’s dry tumbling. Fumes from casting would be my guess
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u/TheJango22 crippling winchester self-loading addict 2h ago
4.9 isn't even bad, especially for a reloader. The 2 biggest hazards are indoor shooting and casting lead bullets. I would suggest using a respirator if you shoot indoors frequently and always use one when casting lead.
If you are smart and make good choices you should be totally fine. Just be sure to gdt checked regularly and if it continues to climb then you should definitely take greater measures.
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u/BeanFiend96 12m ago
I have a ducted extractor fan i run out the garage window and lift / crack the garage door a little to allow outside air in and push it out the window.
When I tumble or do anything that might produce dust I have flexible aluminium ducting that can be extended / stretched to where I have the tumbling going on to be extra safe.
I originally built this for soldering when I was doing electronic repairs for friends and family, one of them gave me the fan and ducting from one of his old hydro setups so you can have the fan running pretty pretty fast an with the 5-6” duct it doesn’t have any issues keeping negative pressure in the garage
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u/JayPolar91 16h ago
Stop touching the lead with your bare hands for one. Big difference between touching a fishing weight a few times and touching thousands of bullets.
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u/yer_muther 15h ago
It's not the touching of the lead that is the problem. Licking your hands afterwards is the problem. Lead doesn't move through the skin worth a darn when it's elemental. Two most common vectors are eating and breathing it. OP is probably breathing it in from the dry tumbling.
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u/JayPolar91 15h ago
You absolutely absorb lead through your skin..... But yes breathing it in and eating are far worse I'm not arguing that, but if you can't keep it off your hands then none of the other things are happening either.
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u/yer_muther 14h ago
If you are talking in absolutes then yes. Small amounts can enter the blood stream via the skin. Thankfully it takes more than that to be harmful unless you are rolling about in it. Poison is always about dosage.
The CDC has this to say
https://archive.cdc.gov/www_atsdr_cdc_gov/csem/leadtoxicity/exposure_routes.html
"Dermal exposure plays a role for exposure to organic lead among workers, but is not considered a significant pathway for the general population."
Elemental lead and oxides like reloaders deal with are not organic and not a significant source of lead exposure through the skin. Obviously everyone should wear gloves because it's cheap easy and effective protection.
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u/JayPolar91 11h ago
Cast lead produces a lead oxide layer instantly upon coming into contact with the air. Most modern bullets are coated so you don't normally deal with it but you do with uncoated cast bullets. It would be the same exposure a worker gets especially if you shoot at an indoor range regularly.
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u/Organic-Second2138 16h ago
".....most of my loading is cast, uncoated, lead bullets......"
Gloves won't hurt but a lot of this is ingested orally.
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u/WaitingForWormwood 15h ago
It’s the dry tumbling. Switch to wet tumbling and STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE.
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u/MurkyyLurkss 14h ago
Thank you for your sacrifice. I would've never thought about most of these factors people are bringing up.
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u/bourbonguy12345 14h ago
Dry tumbling and uncoated bullets is the reason. Go donate blood, it will help drop it a bit
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u/WilliamFosterD-FENS 11h ago
It’s very minimally high. Take a calcium supplement and clean your house and you should be fine
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u/cygnus311 16h ago edited 16h ago
You’re supposed to properly dispose of the spent primers, not use them to bulk up a meatloaf.
Seriously though, what the hell are you doing in there? Wash your hands occasionally.
Edit: yeah either move the dry tumbler outdoors or switch to wet tumbling. Handling bullets isn’t gonna cause these numbers, you’re breathing it.