lead pollution

[geiger]

i'm not sure if i'm in the right forum, so feel free to move the thread is necessary.


it never occurred to me until recently how much pellets i've sprayed in my back yard. sure i'm not shooting where we have the garden, but we have a few chickens that graze everyday and i don't dare think if they do ingest those tiny pellets mistaking them for food or small rocks.
so i decided that i'll never shoot again without a proper back stop that collects pellets. which is already in the plans


anybody have similar thoughts?

[Jaymo]

No, not so far. Metallic lead has a very low bioavailability. Lead oxide is what causes lead poisoning, due to it's higher bioavailability, and lead oxidizes VERY slowly.

[geiger]

Jaymo - 12/1/2008  9:44 AM

No, not so far. Metallic lead has a very low bioavailability. Lead oxide is what causes lead poisoning, due to it's higher bioavailability, and lead oxidizes VERY slowly.

that's nice to know...but still i'll try not to be so messy while shooting.

[gamo2hammerli]

I worry more....because I shoot alot in the basement.  I`m wondering if I should stop?

[HNT5]

I found this article someone had posted on the Yellow forum. It states there is little danger from indoor shooting. HOWEVER, there are 2 sided to every story and I read on a NZ air pistol forum ( I found the article when looking for this one on Google) that a shooter became ill and his blood lead level was elevated. He attributed it to the lead that was "lost" from each pellet he fired in his basement. He claimed to have weighed both fired and unfired pellets and that between 0.3 and 0.5 grains was the difference between them. He went on to say that the lead was either in the barrel or in the air. That is a loss of between 3.7% and 6.3%, based on the Crosman .177 7.9 grain pellets he used. So who is right? I don't know. Do I worry about lead exposure? Not now. I do the vast majority of my shooting indoors in my basement. Everything from 4 to 24 ft lbs. Maybe on day I will get a blood test for lead to establish a baseline and to compare myself to the National "average". My doctor will probably think I'm nuts if I ask for a test. I guess if you experience a sudden health change for the worse or illness for some reason, you may want to check your lead level. Lead can cause many health issues and may not be readily identified as the cause.  I don't think you should start selling off your airguns just yet, unless it's to me real cheap! LOL!
Regards
Nathan

[tjk]

Nice ending plug there Nathan. LOL's. But seriously, I doubt the lead content in todays market is enough to warrent any real concern,....after all, if it was something of major concern, I'd think the EPA would have stepped in a long time ago, like they have with lead shot for water-fowl enthusiast. I'd be interested in what the more "metalurgy" inclined GTA members would have to say about this subject. tjk

[spark22]

I handle lead at work when we remove the old lead covered phone cables and when I drop them off the poles and roll them up they let off alot of lead dust and my hands get covered in it also plus I think of all the years of fishing that I use to bite the pinch weights on the line and all the years of shooting and smelting and reloading I use to do and now the constant airguning I do now I have never had any health problems or high lead levels in my blood the key is to always wash your hands befor you eat or smoke or realy do anything that can cause you to ingest it.as for the chickens eating the spent pellets I would worry because those guys eat anything!!! maybe you should have the chickens tested?no realy its best if you are eating them but if they were ingesting the lead there would be signs like realy thin egg shells and birth defects that would be noticable if your not seeing any of that their probably ok and  nothing to worry about.

[bugshotgta]

I have thought the same thing.  So I had these peanut cans and filled them with fine sand.  With a big can (paint can or what ever) the pellet is hard pressed to pass thru it.  Every once in a while I sift the sand thru a screen and take out the lead.  Solves part of the problem anyway.  Some pellets tend to bouce out of the metal trap I have and my RWS 52 could go thru it at shorter ranges.  The Sand Can works great.
Later
Bug

[gunsup0331]

how do you keep the sand from pouring out through the holes?

[bugshotgta]

Well if it is a little wet it stays in pretty well.  And when I have a bunch of holes in it I just keep putting duct tape over it.
Later Bug

[gunsup0331]

bugshotgta - 12/1/2008  7:38 PM

Well if it is a little wet it stays in pretty well.  And when I have a bunch of holes in it I just keep putting duct tape over it.
Later Bug

lol i heart duct tape

[geiger]

anybody with in the same situation like me can read

http://jvdi.org/cgi/reprint/15/5/418.pdf

pretty interesting...most levels of lead were found in the shell and yolk.

seriously...the first thing i do when i come home is to clean up the area where i shoot the most. i really don't want to be eating lead for breakfast.

[gamo2hammerli]

I guess another way to test yourself would be to use an IQ test.....or a SAT test.....from a library. Test yourself by doing a part of the test, and then a year later take the same test....and then compare if you`ve lost some brain cells. But maybe lead poisoning takes a lot of years before it shows up.....

[RedFeather]

Yes, it takes a while for lead to oxidize, but oxidized pellets are not what's dangerous to the chickens.  As birds, chickens will eat small pebbles for their craws (gizzards) where they are used to break up seeds, etc, in place of teeth for chewing.  If they eat a pellet or two, it will be in there with the grit and, eventually, some of the lead will be ground off.  I believe that's what affect puddle ducks in marshlands.

[Schmidty25]

nice thread.  I was wondering this very thing just the other day.