[Magwa45]

A local salvage company has lead in 40 lbs. ingots, pure lead. But this is from lead shields used in medical xrays. Could this stuff be radioactive? Do you need to take a Geiger counter to be sure that it is safe?

[rcmodel]

If it was the slightest bit radioactive, the NRC would classify it as Radioactive Hazardous waste and it would not be salvageable.

rc

[Cosmoline]

If so--bonus!

I'm still waiting for commercial DU rounds.

[MICHAEL T]

buy it

[ArmedBear]

I'm still waiting for commercial DU rounds.

That would certainly improve the effectiveness of round balls on large game.

A 300 grain projectile in a .50 caliber muzzleloader, and it works just fine with a 1 in 66" twist!

[Beelzy]

It is not radioactive. It blocks radiation and does not absorb it.

GTG!

[Hawkeye748]

If it the sheet lead used in X-Ray rooms for shielding, it is okay.

If it is the lead used to transport isotopes used in diagnotic testing or chemotherapy, it is NOT pure lead and will have high content of zinc, tin, and antimony. It will be okay for patched RB but will not work for minie balls or pistol RB.

[4v50 Gary]

Get as much as you can.

[armoredman]

Snag.

[Hellgate]

Current spot price of lead is about $1.05/lb. It is not radioactive. Load up if it is at a good price.

[BCRider]

Radioactivity is like light. Once it's turned off there's no residual effect. The only way this shielding lead could be in any manner radioactive would be if someone spilled some medical isotope or other radioactive material on it by accident. And if that had happened this particular batch would not be up for sale since it would be in a controlled long term radioactive material storage facility.

Buy and shoot it knowing you're safe.

[Loyalist Dave]

BS !

It's probably "all crapped up" as the venacular of those who do or have properly handled radio active materials refer to contaminated stuff..., "crapped up". So leave it alone...., oh and could you pass us the address, phone number, and any other contact information for the source of this lead. NOT that I'm trying to pull a fast one on you or anything. Give a brother Marylander a break? :evil:

LD

[Suwannee Tim]

Xrays are electromagnetic radiation just like visable light except for shorter wavelength and higher energy. They will not make lead radioactive.

It is not radioactive. It blocks radiation and does not absorb it.

They absorb the xray radiation, they do not "block" it.

Radioactivity is like light. Once it's turned off there's no residual effect.

"Raidoactivity" is a broad term that can mean electromagnetic radiation like xrays or gamma rays or particle radiation like alpha particles or neutrons which most certainly make materials radioactive.

[wittzo]

I know of a nuclear physicist who used to work at Oak Ridge, he would make extra money by taking the old lead aprons and stuff and smelt them for the scrap lead. He was whining about giving his kids lead poisoning to make a few bucks after I told him I cast my bullets.

I assume he was doing it in his garage. As smart a man as he seemed to be, there are a lot of guys here that aren't nuclear physicists that know a lot more about materials safety than he did, I guess..

[red95gtcoupe]

I am in charge of ordering/receiving/everything with our radioactivity at the lab where I work. The lead should be radioactivity free. The only real chance there would be anything remaining would be if the material spilled onto the lead pig. Spills are big deal so even if that did happen, everything would be cleaned and scanned to make sure those specific isotope readings are at background level. We do swipes on ours whenever we receive radiation, regardless. I was going to start taking our lead home, but our supplier has a tendency not to ship smaller amounts in a lead pig. We require all of ours to be stored in lead containers so we end up reusing all the old containers after their material has decayed. I still may take the scrap shielding sheets that are to small for wrapping vials though.

[mustang_steve]

There's a broad range of hazardous materials. Electronics techs know more about lead poisioning than many other flavors of technician...just because we work with solder, and OFTEN. I used to plow through a pound of solder a week, just doing spot fixes on reference hardware, making cables, etc.

On the other hand, I'd have no idea how to handle any isotopes, which some of the more complicated automated testing equipment used. We had a on-call tech from some firm come in for that mess. Leave the unfamiliar hazmats to the pros.