Post gun range, chemicals and elements on body and clothing.. around infants

[nrich1979]

I have a new born son that is just coming to his 5th month.

After firing off a few hundred rounds today and I came back to my house..

My concern and question is this..

Assuming it's an indoor range, what is on my hands, my clothing, in my hair from the ammo and the shooting..

I'm assuming lead, but what other things should I be aware of and concerned with..

[10x25mm]

The major contamination route from the lead aerosols you are exposed to at an indoor range into your house are your shoes. They are exposed to much higher levels of lead at the range and, if you wear the shoes into your house, they deposit the lead aerosols on the flooring in your house. This is, of course, the domain of your typical rug rat. Strip you outer clothing and shoes in the garage before you enter your house. Clothing is typically contaminated at a PPM level after a visit to an indoor range, but shoes can carry percentage levels of lead. If you are a regular visitor to indoor ranges, you might also consider temporary seat and floor coverings for your vehicle.

The Seattle Times recently had a good two part series on lead contamination of workers at indoor shooting facilities:

http://projects.seattletimes.com/2014/loaded-with-lead/1/

Well worth a read.

Gun cleaning is a lot less toxic today than it was 30 years ago. If you confine your cleaning agents to water based compositions, you can be fairly well assured that they will not be adversely affecting your son. You can confirm this by doing a little online research and collecting the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for your cleaning agents. You can typically download MSDSs from the manufacturers' websites. A number of companies make adapters which allow you to fit empty PET beverage bottles on the end of a rifle barrel when you are brushing a bore to suppress aerosol discharge when the brush breaks out of the bore. Good ventilation of your cleaning area is always beneficial.

Rust inhibiting oils are a little more problematical, but again an MSDS search can find the agents least likely to affect your son. As a general rule, wax-based inhibitors and lubes are less volatile, and hence safer, than oil based inhibitors and lubes. Silicones are generally volatile and their bioeffects are disputed - some evidence of adverse effects upon male sexual development exists because they can mimic hormones. Best to avoid the use of silicone compounds, and this applies to other household silicone compounds as well. Remember that nothing is absolutely safe, many of the cleaners and fuels your son is exposed to on a daily basis also carry their own risks.

Gun cleaning patches should be disposed of carefully. A PET ice tea bottle is a good receptacle for spent patches. Lay down newspapers on your cleaning bench and dispose of the top layer after every cleaning session.

[Signess]

I'm sure there's all kinds of things. Especially in the hair, now that you've said it.

I've got a 3 month old, and I'm paranoid touching her simply after I've loaded my mags. And with the hair... If you're anything like me, after being away from your little bundle of joy. You want to pick them up and hold them. Well... Where is the first place they bury their face..... The hair and neck area....

[nrich1979]

This is the perfect response.. I've decided to move my gun cleaning care location outside to the garage now after reading that.. I'm also putting my gun range shoes out there.. Thankfully we don't wear shoes in the house, but reading this does pretty much confirm what I already suspected..

[nrich1979]

MODS..

Not sure if this is sticky worthy or not..

But and MSDS sheet on Guns wouldn't be bad information..

[MI-1911]

Wow, wonder how my two boys grew up normal, and healthy! :shrugs:

[wsr]

Wow, wonder how my two boys grew up normal, and healthy! :shrugs:

I know what your saying but there is nothing wrong with minimizing bad stuff that can harm your child

I am 45 I grew up normal and healthy despite being in the era when lead paint was OK asbestos was used widely and it was OK and normal to smoke in the house and car with children, doesn't mean those things shouldn't be worried about now

[MI-1911]

I know what your saying but there is nothing wrong with minimizing bad stuff that can harm your child

I am 45 I grew up normal and healthy despite being in the era when lead paint was OK asbestos was used widely and it was OK and normal to smoke in the house and car with children, doesn't mean those things shouldn't be worried about now

I'm not disagreeing. But it made me think back when no one thought about any of those things! I used to cast lead bullets in a spare bedroom. I reloaded, in the same room. I cleaned my guns in a small tub of Trichloroethylene! We set up a shooting range in my buddies basement, and shot everything from .22LR to .30-06, and 12ga shotguns! :crazy:

[nrich1979]

I don't mean to start a panic but yeah it did dawn on me last night as I was walking in the door.. my first instinct is to grab my son..

Then I started to think about the fact I cleaned my guns on a gun make on the counter.. and the chemicals and rags..

So I realized that I wasn't doing my part to keep the house clean..

[steve77]

When I was a kid we bought cheap bulk pellets for our pellet guns. I "hunted" nearly every day from age 6 to 16 unless the temps dipped below 40 degrees. My brother and I both found that the best place to carry pellets and access them quickly was in our cheek. I would put 20 or so pellets in my cheek every single day. I was smart enough to start college at age 14. I took college level genetics and statistics and passed both without cracking a book at 14. If only I hadn't gotten lead poisoning I may have ruled the world. I'm not saying it is harmless but it it isn't going to turn a normal kid into the dueling banjo kid from Deliverance.

[MI-1911]

Not to mention the lead, and mercury, in amalgam tooth fillings!

[langenc]

Wow, wonder how my two boys grew up normal, and healthy! :shrugs:

Me to.

We used to play w/ mercury (eek, eek) in high school study hall.

Today the school would be evacuated for 2 or 3 days and the hazmat teams would enter in their moon suits., Cost $$$thousands/occurance.

When in college wed go to the armory rifle range and eat lunch. Then attend classes for 2 or 3 hours and work till 7 or 8 PM.

Never wash hands or changed clothes after the range..

[MI-1911]

Common sense, makes sense. But like any "environmental" issues, people go to extremes!

[10x25mm]

Generally speaking, bulk metallic (elemental) lead is not as hazardous as its popular reputation would suggest. But there are specific cases, such as infants, young children, and some lead compounds which do warrant real concern. Most cases of lead poisoning are not related to firearms or lead paint. Rather it is caused by exposure to soil contamination from years of using tetraethyl lead containing motor vehicle fuels. Crappy Chinese jewelry and toys are often made from, or finished with lead, cadmium or worse - and are another major source of infant/child toxic metal burdens.

Lead burden is usually expressed as micrograms per liter of blood, or kilogram of weight - usually stated as parts per million 'PPM'.. Infants and small children just do not have much blood or weight, so they have a much higher lead burden than older, larger children and adults after any given exposure. There is also a lot of evidence that the neurotoxicity of lead diminishes markedly with age, with the very youngest most severely harmed. So lead exposure as a teenager cannot really be compared to lead exposure as an infant.

Metallic lead is not a very effective poison when ingested orally. Lead has a high degree of corrosion resistance to water, saliva, and hydrochloric acid (in the stomach). This distinguishes lead from mercury and cadmium, which readily form extremely toxic chlorides in the stomach. Lead particles get scoured out of the GI tract by fiber particles and excreted. But infants and young children have little fiber in their diets ("I hate vegetables"), so lead particle residence in their GI tracts is much longer. More opportunity for lead to be absorbed by their systems. And infants seem to put everything in their mouths; some kind of test for edibility?

So there are grounds for concern - not panic - over lead from all sources around young children and infants. It doesn't take much effort to exercise a little hygiene when using lead. There are grounds to get excited over cadmium and mercury, which are far more toxic to all humans regardless of age.

[Jackam]

When I was a kid we bought cheap bulk pellets for our pellet guns. I "hunted" nearly every day from age 6 to 16 unless the temps dipped below 40 degrees. My brother and I both found that the best place to carry pellets and access them quickly was in our cheek. I would put 20 or so pellets in my cheek every single day. I was smart enough to start college at age 14. I took college level genetics and statistics and passed both without cracking a book at 14. If only I hadn't gotten lead poisoning I may have ruled the world. I'm not saying it is harmless but it it isn't going to turn a normal kid into the dueling banjo kid from Deliverance.

This is funny.
My kids have heard me say 1000 times "Man! If only I hadn't played with mercury as a kid, I'd be Einstein!"

[planedriver]

Common sense, makes sense. But like any "environmental" issues, people go to extremes!

Over protection, hand sanitizers used repeatedly throughout the day, overloading kids on supplemental vitamins, apply gallons of sunscreen several time per day, making sure kids are in the protected bubble at all times.

Kids are adults in training they are designed to get everyday bumps, scrapes, common colds, minor infections, an occasional sunburn and bug bites. Without first hand knowledge of how these things work and what to do where will they be left when the overprotective parents are not there?

No I don't suggest giving your child the experience of rat poison or the sudden stop after jumping off a bridge. I do suggest that we all look back and try to remember what did and did not hurt us and proceed accordingly. Remember a few years ago bacon was going to kill us all and if you fried a hamburger too fast cancer was a certainty?

[langenc]

When in college we went to the ROTC range and ate lunch couple times/week. Now I find out that you should change clothing after visiting the range. I don't believe we even washed our hands before lunch and went to a job after classes till 7 or 8 PM.

Maybe that is why it took me so long to graduate..

And worse than that we played w/ mercury in study hall in high school. Today that would warrant closing the school for couple days, a visit from the men in space suits to clean it up, and a bill for about 25-30 thousand bucks.

[DLL9MM]

I know this is an old thread but.... Anyone here have their blood checked for lead. If so, what were your numbers?

[solarguy]

I reload. I cast bullets. I refine/recycle lead, I shoot regularly. I take very basic precautions like hand washing. I got tested. Better than average.

Hand washing and change your clothes after heavy exposure. Worth paying attention and taking basic precautions. Not worth freaking out about. I don't have babies in the house. I would take it up a notch or two if I did.

[45 acp]

WOW a two year old post dug up and replied to!! WHY?

But ok being as I read all the posts before I realized it was two years old and no one mentioned all the other heavy metals you are exposed to from shooting.


There is a lot more than just lead to worry about.

Airborne Heavy Metals at Gun Shooting Ranges

http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/30/annhyg.meu097/T1.expansion.html