I also don't really want to go the gym 3-5 times a week for decade after decade after decade. Nor do I want to take the time to cook healthy meals every day. I also don't really want to do martial training every day for 10 years but... I do these things because I don't think one should bury one's head in the sand and hope for the best.
Your concerns still are completely unfounded.Originally Posted by nternal
Most people are not avid shooters. There is no longer lead in gasoline. Even people who fish don't go often enough for that lead exposure to matter. Unless folks are eating old paint off of their walls, how are they going to be exposed to lead? Using them for a guideline is illogical.
As you said, you are not at a danger level. As long as the levels of lead in your blood are not high enough to cause you harm, what do you care what the general population's levels are?
I assume you've already begun to use lead-free ammunition, correct?
http://www.sbrammunition.com/9_frangible.html
Heart disease will definitely kill you. Having lead levels that are too low to be dangerous does not.
The other issue is you have no base line. For all we know, your lead levels could have always been at that amount. There could be some other environmental factor playing a role.
I order to establish a control, you need to completely separate yourself from firearms, ammunition, and shooting ranges until you can give the lead you have acquired time to cycle through your system. Then, you need a blood test to see what your levels were to begin with.
... I would say you're bordering on the ridiculous... but I think that border was crossed a while ago.
How much do you shoot?
You lead levels are slightly higher than mine were after twenty years of shooting, dabbling in handloading, and almost four years of working at an indoor range where some areas in the back room had a two-decade layer of gray dust on everything. I have guns I rarely clean, let alone decontaminate, and my high-speed precautions at the outdoor range are usually limited to using the handi-wipes in the range bag before I uncap a water bottle.
Either you are shooting a lot, are somehow super lead-absorbent, or there's another source of environmental lead in your life.
DITTO As I said earlier I work in a facility that until recently used lead as part of the manufacturing process. All new hire were checked for lead levels and those results varied widely. You need a baseline. As I tell my 12 year old...don't panic.
Like the others have said I would starting to take inventory of my entire life style. Could you be getting lead exposure from another source, including your water supply.
With regards to you firearms lifestyle:
Hom much do you shoot?
Where do you shoot?
What do you do immediately after you are done shooting?
How long ago did you start implementing the suggestions listed here? Could you have built up an elevated BLL and you are still in the process of passing the lead from your body? It has been suggested that it is a 30 day cycle, what I remember from my elevated BLL experience they required me to step away for 6 months.
Then there may be some truth to Tamara's suggestion you may be more susceptible to elevated BLL's. This is the least likely possibility but some people are more susceptible to things then others.
Scott
Only Hits Count - The Faster the Hit the more it Counts!!!!!!; DELIVER THE SHOT!
Stephen Hillier - "An amateur practices until he can do it right, a professional practices until he can't do it wrong."
Lead only accumulates due to chronic exposure. Even in the worst ventilated indoor ranges, it would take MANY hours per week to attain lead to levels THAT significantly elevated. Dietary Iron and Vitamin C slowly leach lead out of your system over time, only range employees working 8 hours per day in poorly ventilated ranges should be exposed to sufficient lead from firearms to exceed the body's capacity for lead reduction.
If you are not a range employee, and you test very high lead levels, FIRST, you should get a third party to help your addled brain analyze the situation, and SECOND, you should look for a direct dietary source of exposure. Unless you spend your time breathing gas directly from the open dust cover of an AK-47 firing cast bullets, shooting once a month or even once a week does not consist a chronic source of lead exposure.
The most common sources of soluble lead exposure are water contamination, paint, enamel, food produced in a country with poor food safety regulation (i.e. China), herbal or folk remedies (eating vitamins or herbs from an odd source as part of your "healthy" diet?), and contaminated soil (growing your own food in a garden located near a major historic roadway?)
That said, I prefer to shoot lead free or Total Metal Jacket ammunition simply because it's better for the environment.
Was that really helpful?
This is a very good suggestion
nternal - You have talked about being a gym & martial arts enthusiast. Are you taking any supplements, some that may have come from the orient? Just a thought.
Scott
Only Hits Count - The Faster the Hit the more it Counts!!!!!!; DELIVER THE SHOT!
Stephen Hillier - "An amateur practices until he can do it right, a professional practices until he can't do it wrong."
First, let me say that so long as the lead levels are within a safe range, that this is still entirely a waste of time. That said, the OP needs to check the water supply of anywhere he regularly drinks water or contains anything containing water. This includes his home, the homes of friends and family he frequents the residence of, any restaurants he frequents, his place of business, the gym, any unmentioned place of worship, etc. Anywhere the OP consumes anything that contains water is suspect. I know that in an are I lived in a few months back (where I spent some time sitting over a cauldron of molten lead casting fishing weights) that we sourced a lot of our lead from the plumber... he got it whenever he worked on an older home, and removed some lead pipe. Many homes still have lead pipe. There is also the possibility that the solder used in any copper pipe could contain lead of it is older, or if the builder was using the improper solder (either to save money or by accident).
As far as the second paragraph, I think this may reference one of my comments. I cannot say that all lead will be removed from your system after 30 days, however, it is sufficient time that you could see substantial decreases. Within thirty days, after our ventilation flaw was discovered, I went from being just over OSHA maximums, to being almost down to levels common to the general population. Could it take 6 months for all of the lead to leave my body? It very well might. I honestly don't know or care so long as I am not exceeding a safe level. I was merely illustrating that the OP being concerned that he has already accumulated too much lead because he was exposed to lead gasoline years ago is completely preposterous.
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