Heavily oxidized lead

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  • Last Post 11 October 2022
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max503 posted this 10 October 2022

I was gifted some lead muzzle loader balls of different sizes.  I am going to melt them down (and mix with a harder alloy) to use for pistol boolits.  

Some of these balls have a very heavy coating of white lead oxide.  Any concerns here?  Health-wise particularly?

I will probably put the oxidized balls in a mesh basket and spray them with water to remove the dust, then let them dry.  That's what I do with backstop lead that has lots of dirt on it. 

As an aside - I've seen where people (shooters) stored their lead outside in an oil drum and it would oxidize from the weather.  Just sayin'.  

Thanks in advance.

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 10 October 2022

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max503 posted this 10 October 2022

I am going ahead with my plans to rinse it off then dry it.  I assume there is a light coating of oxide on most any lead.  Something to keep in mind.  

(That thread did not come up when I did a search.)

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 10 October 2022

 Quoted from old thread

"The white powder you see is lead oxide, yes it is very poisonous, but only if you eat or breath it. Otherwise, it just lays there. The issue with lead paint is kids that eat it, I.e. chew on cribs, etc. Or you drink it in the water, let the tap run 3 seconds. Making people afraid makes news and money!!"

This time of year you might encounter slightly damp lead as you melt it down.  If you insist on washing off the oxide and placing it in your soil at home, please always start your melt with a cold pot and avoid a steam event.

I have no idea why you could not open the link as it works for me.  Were you trying to open it in a new tab or a new screen?

 

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max503 posted this 11 October 2022

So it shouldn't be any more of a concern than the dross we skim off the pot?

I will not be washing it into the soil around my home.

I was able to open the link.

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 11 October 2022

 I would say equal concern but you will be handling a lot more of it at a time. If you are casting, you will be handling only perhaps 10-20 pounds of alloy with positive ventilation.  If you only have a small amount of lead oxide coated bullets, this conversation is a bit overthinking the whole thing.  If you have a pile of lead pipe to melt down, then it really becomes a reason to be concerned.  That could result in being a little less cautious over a long period of handling the material.  Perhaps you should focus on duration of exposure and not just a single limited event.

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max503 posted this 11 October 2022

 "If you only have a small amount of lead oxide coated bullets, this conversation is a bit overthinking the whole thing."

 

OK well, I've always said, better safe than sorry.  This lead haul I got consisted of about 12-15 bags of muzzle loader projectiles.  I wasn't thinking and I opened the bags and boxes and dumped them all together.  The balls in one of the baggies were all white.  The total for the whole thing is about 50 pounds.  Maybe one big handful of balls were pretty heavily coated white.   

I'm going to take them to my club and rinse them out.  The ground there is already heavily saturated.  Another teaspoonful of lead oxide shouldn't hurt a thing.  Then I'll spread them on hardware cloth in the sun to dry.  

This is pure lead, I recon.  I got a lot of lino to mix with it and make, mostly, pistol boolits.  

Thank you for your help and feedback.  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything crazy.  It wouldn't be the first time.134

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