Word of Caution-Lead Exposure

[joneb]

I live in a sea of dangers most of which involve lawn and garden care, but I think the drive to acquire these lawn care products maybe more dangerous than the products themselves.
I read the instructions and use common sense when dealing with such things.
Some would say Pb has no use in this world, and I say I have no use for those that demonize Pb and CO2 for their own gain.

 

[rajb123]

don't drink any water.....

My house was built in 1941 and the copper pipes were soldered using lead solder.... the house also has radioactive traces of uranium in the basement which is a common problem in NY underground basements.

The threat of lead poisioning is real..... and it should not be taken lightely... ditto for radioactive trace elements found in nature....

 

[Jaymo]

Gotta die of something. J/K

 

[traderpats]

Thanks for the alert OP. Concern for lead inhalation and general lead contamination around the house was the main reason I went to the wet tumbling method for cleaning brass. Just be careful to wear high-quality gloves until the rinse water runs crystal clean.

 

[Patocazador]

I didn't know this before we started fighting a proposed asphalt plant locally, but they use contaminated dirt from old underground gasoline tanks as a component to produce the asphalt. It puts a tremendous amount of lead into the air within a 2-mile radius of the plant.

There have been many studies done in children (it's especially dangerous to kids and results in reduced I.Q.s) who lived near interstate interchanges. They found that these kids had reduced I.Q.s, had a higher dropout rate and had a much larger percentage with criminal records in later years. All of this was attributed to the increased lead concentrations from leaded fuel while the children were developing. The same findings applied to children raised in houses with lead paint.

 

[fguffey]

Then there were providers of food to ships that went on long voyages, if the ships never returned the inquiring minds in the old days considered something was wrong with the food, if some of the ships never managed to navigate to back to their home port or were found with their crews hauling the ship across dry land the provider of the ships provisions was suspect.

then there was the musical instrument salesman going door to door, giving recitals on an instrument with no strings, reads, frets or chambers, just a musical instrument that produced a haunting sound, everyone that played the instrument went mad, it was decided the instrument was haunted and drove the owner/player mad. The first to go was the salesman, he was placed in a room next to the man that made hats. Then then there was the life of the party, the one that insisted on running his finger around the top of crystal glasses. Most of the musical instruments were destroyed, as in ‘better to rent’ some of the instruments were sold by a good sales pitch, in that situation no one ever attempted to play the instrument, the owners stored the instruments in the attic.

Then there was the fire extinguisher, carbon-tetrachloride, and we were not warned, but in the Blue Jacket in about 1938 it clearly states there is something wrong, do not use this fire extinguisher in a confined area, and fire extinguishers were placed in confined areas, by law commercial trucks etc., were required to carry one up into the late 60s, and I have friends that insist, carbon-tetrachloride is the best stuff in the world for cleaning. then there are those that insist mercury is the best stuff ‘in the world’ for getting the lead out of a barrel after shooting lead bullets.

I have old books and magazines, late 19 century, early 20 century, every cigarette is a nail in your coffin, that was 110+ years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride

F. Guffey

 

[flyskater]

Corn cob and walnut tumbling exposes you to alot of lead especially if you do it indoors. Now that I use SS tumbling, I've never looked back. When I dump the water after SS tumbling, the water is literally black. I cast bullets as well, but I do that outdoors with a mask.

 

[Patocazador]

Corn cob and walnut tumbling exposes you to alot of lead especially if you do it indoors. Now that I use SS tumbling, I've never looked back. When I dump the water after SS tumbling, the water is literally black. I cast bullets as well, but I do that outdoors with a mask.

Is this exposure to lead from tumbling lead bullets or from the media used for tumbling? The jeweler's rouge that allows the walnut hulls to shine brass could contain lead but I never heard reports that it does.

If you use the tumbler to only clean brass, does lead still present a problem?


P.S.: Drinking moonshine long-term produces a "lead line" in the gums above the teeth that indicates a toxic amount of lead. It is due to condensing the moonshine in automobile radiators that use lead solder.

 

[x_wrench]

Makes me wonder what the blood lead level is for the folks at Missouri Bullets and other big time casters. You'd think it would be off the charts.

there are health regulations regarding people who work with dangerous / hazardous materials such as lead. the battery industry could not keep workers if such regulations were not in place. most of those workers have lead levels lower than the national average.

 

[jdownj]

Any commercial operation that works with lead has to deal with OSHA, and the required lead-safety program includes respirators, showers, etc... Pure metallic lead is unlikely to do much to you, but primer dust and fumes off your melting pot can get ugly... I moved all my tumbling outdoors, and soon I will be moving to wet tumbling.

 

[flyskater]

Lead from brass tumbling comes from the spent primers that blow inside the brass casing. The residue from the FMJ bullets (lead is exposed at the base) and especially cast lead bullets stick on the fired brass.

 

[jcwit]

and fumes off your melting pot can get ugly...

Ain't gonna happen unless you're way overheating your pot. Fumes of any extent will only be a problem at and over 1,100 degrees, and I seriously doubt anyone is casting at that temp. It would take forever for the sprue and bullet to harden at that high temp.

 

[jdownj]

I stand corrected on the melting pot... I have been using wheel weights and there is other "stuff" on them that burns off at lower temps... Probably still not good to breathe

 

[jcwit]

Also folks need to remember that lead is a heavy element, as in weight. This is true whether its in a metalic state, liquid state, or in fumes. It's not going to rise much over the melt and then migrate to the floor or ground, this is of course if one did in fact heat the melt to 1,100 or higher. Normally would need a torch to accomplish this.

 

[JohnBT]

One of my last projects was burning 96 years worth of paint off 8 exterior shutters. I used an electric heat gun and a decent mask. I just about filled an old metal trash can with paint chips.

I'm not worried about lead solder, there are lead pipes out in the street. But they're historic lead pipes.

What was the question?