A very real problem and one we SHOULD be resolving on our own with minimal gov't mandatory regulations if we're wise. Unleaded gasoline, non-lead based paint, steel/bismuth shot, etc due to gov't regulations. Lead is right up there with Mercury in terms of toxicity. Don't ingest it or inhale it if possible. Bad for the brain.
I'd opine that indoor ranges would be worse than outdoor and breathing fumes worse than lead sitting in or on the ground where its found naturally anyway... but some effort on the part of shooters/hunters ala Pittman Robertson Act would go a long way for positive effect both politically and in real life. Also could become another new(er) industry where money could be exchanged in our economy... or we could do nothing and await Federal Regulation and/or shutdown of ranges by decree and watch HazMat crews work over our Ranges on TV news nationwide... wouldn't a certain group or two love to see just that?
Either we do it or they do it. Choose wisely.
The following link makes no mention of shooting sports, so I chose it for inclusion, being apolitical on this issue... good information in a general sense.
http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/metals.htm
(from the link)
Lead
Aside from smoke, lead is probably the oldest human-made atmospheric and occupational toxin, dating back at least 8,000 years to the first lead-smelting furnaces [179]. Today, lead poisoning remains the single most significant preventable disease associated with an environmental and occupational toxin [180].
The risks of lead exposure vary greatly depending upon where one lives. In Bangkok, Mexico City, and Jakarta, exposure largely stems from automotive exhausts; however, in inner-city Chicago and Washington, D.C., exposure is mostly associated with lead in house paint [181]. Generally, human exposure to lead comes from the following main sources: using leaded gasoline; using lead-based paint; having lead pipes in water supply systems; and exposure to industrial sources from processes such as lead mining, smelting, and coal combustion. Additional sources of lead include soldered seams in food cans, ceramic glazes, batteries, and cosmetics [182].
Lead is particularly toxic to the brain, kidneys, reproductive system, and cardiovascular system. Exposures can cause impairments in intellectual functioning, kidney damage, infertility, miscarriage, and hypertension [183]. Lead is a special hazard for young children. Several studies have shown that lead exposures can significantly reduce the IQ of school-aged children; some estimates suggest that every 10-microgram-per-deciliter increase in lead levels in the blood is associated with a 1- to 5-point decrease in the IQ of exposed children [184]. Lead exposures have also been associated with aggressive behavior, delinquency, and attention disorders in boys between the ages of 7 and 11 [185]. In adults, lead exposure has been related to increased blood pressure and hypertension, conditions known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Unlike most chemicals for which health impacts of low-level doses are still uncertain, exposure to lead, even at very low levels, is highly toxic [186]. Although 10 micrograms of lead per 1 deciliter of blood is generally used as the level above which health impacts are known to be substantial, scientists have not yet identified a level below which no adverse effects of lead occur [187] [188]. Several studies have found detectable learning problems in children whose blood lead levels are as low as 5 to 10 micrograms per deciliter [189].
Exposures to unhealthy levels of lead remain common throughout both developed and developing countries. (See Lead Pollution Poses a Special Hazard to Children.) Among urban children in developing countries, the majority of children younger than 2 years of age have average blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter, estimates suggest [190]. A review of 17 studies from different parts of China found that between 65 and 99.5 percent of children living in industrial and heavy traffic areas had blood lead levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter. Even outside of those high-risk areas, as many as 50 percent of China's children had unacceptably high blood lead levels [191]. Even in Africa, despite comparatively low levels of industrialization and car usage, lead exposure is a serious problem. In Nigeria, for instance, it is estimated that 15 to 30 percent of the children in urban areas have blood lead levels greater than 25 micrograms per deciliter [192].
Other Sources
For some populations, other sources of lead may be more important than gasoline. The most acute and even fatal lead poisoning cases are associated with lead mining and processing. In a 1992 study of the Baia Mare (Big Mine), Romania, lead smelter workers had mean blood lead levels of 77.4 micrograms per deciliter. In children living near the lead smelter, mean blood lead levels of 63.3 micrograms per deciliter were measured [209].
Battery recycling is also an important source of lead exposures. On a global scale, 63 percent of all processed lead is used in the manufacturing of batteries [210]. In Mexico, the Caribbean, and India, family-based industries use open furnaces in their backyards to recover lead from batteries by crude smelting. These cottage industries can result in extremely high lead exposures for the whole family. In Jamaica, children living near backyard smelter sites had mean blood lead levels nearly three times those of children from communities with no backyard smelting activities, according to a recent study [211]. In 1991, an outbreak of lead poisoning occurred in Trinidad and Tobago where the soil was contaminated by wastes from battery recycling. Blood lead concentrations in children living in this area varied between 17 and 235 micrograms per deciliter, with an average of 72.1 micrograms per deciliter [212].
Lead-glazed pottery and lead pigments in children's toys and pencils are other routes of exposure [213]. Approximately 30 percent of the population in Mexico uses glazed pottery regularly, placing nearly 24 million people at risk of exposure to lead from this single source [214]. Lead solder in aluminum cans can also pose significant risks; in Honduras, for instance, studies have shown that lead residues in canned food range from 0.13 to 14.8 milligrams per kilogram, far above WHO guidelines [215].
In the United States, despite much progress in reducing mean blood lead levels and eliminating lead from gasoline, lead poisoning remains a major health hazard for children under the age of 6. Approximately 1.7 million children in the United States have blood lead levels that exceed the recommended level of 10 micrograms per deciliter [216], with the highest average blood lead levels found among poor, urban, African-American, and Hispanic children [217]. (See Lead Poisoning Threatens Many U.S. Children.) Lead-based paint is a major exposure route. Although lead has been banned from residential paint since 1978, about three quarters of all housing units built before 1980 contain some lead-based paint [218]. Because lead-based paint is still used throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, this threatens to become a major route of exposure in those countries as well [219].
