Protection from lead fumes

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  • Last Post 11 June 2012
Windflag posted this 11 June 2011

Does anyone have any info related to the proper OSHA/NIOSH FACE MASK one should use to protect against inlhaling fumes generated by bullet casting. I realize the simplest solution is to cast outdoors but I want to be extra cautious. Often the wind just blows it back in your face.
Thank you!!

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argie1891 posted this 11 June 2011

the fumes you see comming off your melted lead are not lead. i dont know how you would get  your melt hot enough to vaporize lead. what you are getting is impurities burning off. takes a lot of heat to vaporize lead. argie1891

if you think you have it figured out then you just dont understand

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billwnr posted this 11 June 2011

Ditto what argie said. all of the stinky stuff is impurities.

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argie1891 posted this 11 June 2011

you could probably get a small fan and let it blow away all the stinky stuff even if the wind quit blowing.. argie1891

if you think you have it figured out then you just dont understand

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codarnall posted this 12 June 2011

I think you should worry more about the mercury vapor fumes in the new Al Gore's squiggly light bulbs thrust upon us should one burst. Everyone should just call hazmat when the burn out, they don't last long either.

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green onions posted this 15 June 2011

Use a half mask with HEPA filter.  North Brand works great and cost is around $40.  It's more important to protect young kids and should be keep away.  The fumes will settle around the area.  Needs to be keep clean. A HEPA filter to draw fumes from melting pot works great, just make sure it draws enough air flow to filter out lead fumes from the air.

Oh wash your hands and don't eat while doing this.  I been working removing lead paint during maintenance of our facility and have learn a lot and had yearly blood test that proves things can be done safely.

 

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LWesthoff posted this 15 June 2011

Removing lead paint will generate lead DUST, not fumes. Lead dust from old dry lead paint IS toxic, and masks are in order when working around it. But you cannot get lead hot enough with any commercial bullet casting lead pot to cause the lead to gas off. The melt would probably have to be just about glowing red before you could generate any lead fumes.

Wes

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shooter93 posted this 16 June 2011

I would never tell anyone not to use precautions when handling lead, dust masks etc are always good ideas and it pays to be saftey minded. That being said....I have worked small construction for over 40 years with a lot of restoration work and been casting for 35 years. I've torn out more laed containing substances and sanded more old lead paints than most people can imagine and I do have blood lead tested periodicaly...it's never been a problem at all and my last test a couple months ago was virtually immeasurable.

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454PB posted this 17 June 2011

I'll add that in order for any respirator to work properly, it needs to be fit tested.

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parkerhale1200 posted this 19 June 2011

if i may add something from the netherlands i know some old casters they do it for over 40 years now. (and nobody has knowledge of 308 casting) there blood was tested on lead but finding no health issues, it was no problem! at the other side of the coin someone how has never casted a bullet, but lives his entire life i a big city(like amsterdam). had more lead in his body than a lead caster both persons are in the age of 64 and 66 and friends but it is true, take care with lead dust and murcery. even on a stove i can not get it red hot, only in my fireplace. so rest well and have a lot of fun of casting with the best regards parkerhale

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CB posted this 20 June 2011

Windflag

Like most of the replies, it is minute to what you are being exposed to, mostly because most of us casters have never had any problems, even those who had blood tested.

The 'green' society is grosely over-emphisizing lead exposure as severly dangerous, like if a city slicker looked at a lead ingot laying on the downtown sidwalk everyone in the area would have to be decontaimated and the whole area quarantined! :)

Like 'green onions' says he works with lead paint, I worked around lead in a factory for 30 years and most no one ever had any problems. If one did have raised levels of lead, the body natually washes it out with no affects in adults, but is worse for children. I'd rather drink plenty of liquids as a precaution for a few days after sweating over a few casting sessions.............Dan

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LWesthoff posted this 20 June 2011

Dan;

Exactly which brand of “liquids” do you prefer after a few casting sessions - medidinal purposes, of course.....

Wes

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CB posted this 22 June 2011

Exactly Wes

Your local brewery's beer will have the best natural nutrients. Other diuretic beverages containing caffeine will do the trick, so brew up that morning coffee stronger. The tea drinkers can use the ‘detox' variety of green teas which contain natural diuretics such as dandelion, nettle, and fennel which surprisingly taste good.

Sit down and eat a watermelon. Include asparagus and cucumbers in your diet. For a big purge with beer, use the ‘light' variety containing more anti-oxidants and less carbs. Once engaged into the beer purge the mask concern will appear quite frivolous........Dan

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codarnall posted this 22 June 2011

The Al Gore BS Mark III mask is the best protection here, if you can find one.

Charlie

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LWesthoff posted this 22 June 2011

Dan;

Now I know what you practice throwing around when you can't get hold of enough possums....

Wes

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paulfrehley posted this 23 June 2011

shooter93 wrote: I would never tell anyone not to use precautions when handling lead, dust masks etc are always good ideas and it pays to be saftey minded. That being said....I have worked small construction for over 40 years with a lot of restoration work and been casting for 35 years. I've torn out more laed containing substances and sanded more old lead paints than most people can imagine and I do have blood lead tested periodicaly...it's never been a problem at all and my last test a couple months ago was virtually immeasurable. And you have never worn any type of protective device all these years while doing this type of work?

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shooter93 posted this 26 June 2011

For th vast majority of the years in construction Paul....no....there was very little thought given to those things 40 yrs. ago. We did sometimes wear a dust mask but that was all. Like I said I would never advise anyone not to wear protective clothing etc. but I think the idea of getting high lead levels from casting is a bit over blown. You're more likely to injest lead from your brass tumbler than from casting.

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kidwalli posted this 24 September 2011

Lead poisoning is very difficult to get. Think about the tens of thousands of people who have worked with lead for years without a problem like guys in radiator repair shops, plumbers and old timers in printing shops etc. The safety nazis have gone way overboard with this like many other dire sky is falling predictions. By the way, the word plumber is derived from the latin word plumb which means lead. The Romans had lead issues because they ate off lead( pewter) plates. You are not likely to get lead poisoning from lead water pipes as the water seals the inside of the pipe in about one hour after initial installation. People have had miles of perfectly safe lead pipe torn out for no good reason. But it makes great bullets.

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Ervin posted this 01 October 2011

I have handled and melted lead for about 50+ years, not counting my early fishing days when we used to bite crimp-on sinkers and then nobody even knew what lead poisoning was. In December I will be 68 yrs old. After seeing this subject come up over & over again I had my Dr. do a blood test. She said the results were “normal". I asked what that ment & she said I didn't have a problem & to stop worrying about it. Having said all that I wouldn't advise anybody to not take precautions. If wearing a mask makes you feel better, by all means do it. Ervin

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Brodie posted this 02 October 2011

The solubility of metal lead is so low that you almost cannot get lead poisoning from handling or exposure to it.  Tetraethel lead such as used to be in gasoline is another story.  There is a tale (told to me by my old quantatative analysis professor) about a little old lady who was so afraid of osteoporosis that she took about eight calcium tablets a day.  Because egg ranches tend to be near highways and the fumes from the tetra-ethyl lead laden exhaust were around the chickens all the time; the birds picked up the ionic lead and incorporated it (a divalent cation like calcium) into their egg shells.  Because egg shells are almost all calcium the NATURAL FOODS people who made the calcium tablets just took egg shells, washed and cleaned them, crushed them and added a binder and formed them into tablets and sold them as a calcium supplement.  Because the chickens had incorporated the lead -from the gas fumes- into the material of their egg shells, and the LOL had eaten too many of the tablets she finally developed lead poisoning, and eventually due to her advanced age and other medical problems finally succumbed to it.

As has been pointed out you cannot get your casting pot hot enough to vaporize the metalic lead.  The only way you are going to introduce  enough lead into your system is to ingest it orally.  Don't smoke or eat while casting, and wash up thoroughly before you do, and this won't be a problem.

The enviro-nazis are so  concerned about lead that they won't even let cinders from the pits around here which shooters have been using be put on the roads during the winter.  Of course by RECRA standards those same roads, and any street or highway made from or with asphalt are by definition ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE DUMPS.  They will not allow the deposition of material lightly contaminated with a heavy metal onto an illegal toxic waste dump which is defined as such by its concentration of heavy metals, most of which are much much more toxic that the dreaded lead.  Brodie

B.E.Brickey

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Johnny Breedlove posted this 31 January 2012

For lead to vaproize it has to heated to in excess of 3000 degrees. that's not going to happen at home with a typical electric lead furnace or propane or natural gas heat source.

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Johnny Breedlove posted this 31 January 2012

Old Coot: First how are you doing. Now let me tell you about gasoline and Tetraethel lead. I worked for Standard oil Co. (Chevron) for 33 years and I have been splashed with gasoline head to toes at least 4 or 5 times and have had it splashed ( not a lot)somewhere on me almost daily during that time. To this day I still come up free of lead when I have my six month blood test at the VA. Today gasoline is almost lead free and the stuff they replaced it with is a lot more toxic than lead.

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.22-10-45 posted this 01 February 2012

Hello, Windflag. All the above posts are excellent! I do all my casting in garage..it faces East, so I try to wait until breezy day with westerly winds..all doors & windows open. I will often position a large fan other side of pot to draw fumes away. That said..you did ask about a mask..I bought one for use in heavy fluxing, and smelting it is a Willson Series 1600 respirator. The filters you need for lead are Organic Vapor. Best of luck!

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Brodie posted this 01 February 2012

I"m doing fine now Johnny. What I should have said was: ” tetraethyl lead such as was once used in gasoline."

B.E.Brickey

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docbob posted this 01 February 2012

Windflag, Just my 2 cents. I'm 72 and have cast bullets since the sixties without any health problems. I have a basement window just above my pot which I open and run a fan behind me which blows the fumes up and out.

DocBob

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Johnny Breedlove posted this 02 February 2012

docbob: I use a fan also and it works great. I like to set it on the inside ledge of the window and let it pull the smoke and fumes out. I don't like the wind blowing on me while I am casting. Also if you don't have a ledge on the inside of the window, build one at the bottom of the window large enough for the fan. It works for me.

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scottawebb posted this 16 May 2012

I managed to get low level lead poisoning. Actually poisoning over states the blood levels I had. To accomplish this, I was recycling range brass from an indoor range using zero industrial hygiene methods. Indoor range brass is dusty, and lots comes from lead-based priming compounds, in addition to particulate lead from backstop spatter. I sifted all the brass to remove dust and paper particle, picked out bigger trash, ran a magnet over each batch, than sorted with some grate gismos to get out the more valuable large revolver brass for reloading. All manually. I used neither dust mask nor gloves and ate and drank during the process. I would clean about 300 lbs. and headed off to the non ferrous metal recyclers in my trusty Civic. Managed to clear $120 per trip for my share and it took 6hrs. including the trip to the recyclers. Did this a couple times a week for weeks on end. Doing everything wrong, I was still below the threshold for health damage according to the Doctor. However, the firestorm of official attention I garnered was an eye-opener. Local public health officials got involved yada-yada. I got a box of nitrile disposable gloves and a box of basic particle dust masks, and went back to it. Washed my hands at my break before eating and drinking, put on a new pair of gloves, finished the work and ditched the mask and second pair of gloves at the end of processing each day. All the while I was casting about 400-600 handgun bullets per week, reloading and shooting same at the same indoor range. Just by using rudimentary industrial hygiene, my blood lead levels dropped to undetectable levels in very little time, couple months maybe. All the while, smelting, casting and reloading as before. To the point: Use basic precautions and handling elemental lead is low risk, and that extends to casting. Do make sure about your ventilation, especially if you mess with alloys containing arsenic, like Magnum shot as a source for antimony. Long post. 3¢ worth at least. My opinion based on my experience.

Essay W

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Popgunner posted this 16 May 2012

My father-in-law died a few years ago at 64. He had pulmonary fibrosis which turns lungs to scar tissue pretty fast. He was dead within a month. He was a non-smoker who had shot, loaded & cast bullets for about 30 years. His blood showed clear on lead content but showed some chemicals he had been playing with to make bullet lubes including moly. He had worked in the industrial diamond making field & had some heavy duty chemicals he was playing with. His doctors weren't possitive but pointed the finger at the chemicals as the cause of the disease. I make sure to avoid breathing what comes off my lead pot. I get a worse feeling after shooting at indoor ranges. I feel it in my lungs & I guess it's the lead styphenate in the primers.

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scottawebb posted this 17 May 2012

I found alox dip lubed bullets made for large amounts of smoke at my indoor range, so much so that the owner complained. But he was mad about me not buying overpriced ammo whenever I came in too, so I blew it off. Don't know if it was toxic but annoying it was.

Essay

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10 Spot Terminator posted this 25 May 2012

I found fluxing smoke to be irritable and came up with my own ventilation system gathering up items from recycle/restore and thrift shop outlets. I took a small personal 3 speed cooling box fan appx. 12x12 inches, found a a simple a/c exhaust/vent cowl that has reduces down at the back to accept small conduit tubing, attached the fan inside of the exhaust hood to blow into the hood . I then mounted the hood on a portable stand to allow me to move it freeley on my casting bench over and behind my smelter pots and ran flexable dryer vent hose off the back of the cowl and to a dryer vent port out throuh the wall mounted up high under the eave of my shop to keep smoke moving upwards as by natural design with a nice assist from the fan. Works nicely and dont have to leave the room anymore when fluxing. FYI paid appx $20.00 total for all the parts to put this together.

10 Spot

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Canuck Bob posted this 11 June 2012

There are some well respected folks in the casting community that do say some lead vapour is released at normal casting temperatures. I am not qualified to question this topic. I have read of folks who have tested their casting area for lead residue and found it.

However, many folks do test themselves for lead and do not find high concentrations from this hobby with simple precautions. I have a blood disorder and this issue concerned me and I need to take stringent safeguards.

My research put my mind to rest with using proper ventilation, careful hygiene so one doesn't ingest lead from dirty fingers while smoking or snacking, wearing my sawdust mask specially when handling scrap lead, and keeping a layer of something on top of my melted lead. This solved the issue of ladle or bottom pour for me.

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CB posted this 11 June 2012

I also use a ventilation system in my shop, nothing more than a 20” box fan in front of a window. I do have a “box” built around my casting area so the smoke and fumes are sucked out of the casting area. I routinely get my blood checked for heavy metal poisoning and so far so good. A big part is the lead dust one has on their hands and then smoking or eating without the proper hygiene.

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