Lead Casting Hazards

Having just cast a batch of .490 balls this morning, I was wondering about the health hazards attributed to the casting of lead bullets. I take the usual precautions which seem sensible to me: I cast in an open garage with a fan drawing fumes away from the pot, wash hands, etc. I was wondering if there were any members of the forum who are physicians or medical professionals (or others) who have knowlege of recent, RELIABLE, research in this area. I am sure there have been studies into industial effects, but does anyone know if there have been any studies of shooters who have cast bullets for 40+ years. You don't know what to believe; with all of the scare tactics out there these days, everything is deadly. The weed eater I just bought had so many warnings in the manual and on the tool itself, you would think the odds were good that you will die if you use the thing. :hmm:

Your doing just fine, That's all you need to do. Just don't lean over the pot and inhale the fumes all the time and you'll be fine.

I have been casting for the past 50+ years and for the past 30 years my annual physical has returned my blood work without any elevated lead levels. Your largest danger will be from burns, if you don't pay attention and by not using safety equipment like gloves, eye protection and proper clothing.

How long have you been in Eureka Springs?

Ditto what he said. Good ventilation and hand washing are the most important measures to protect from lead poising. Of course, other standard safety procedures must be followed. Other than that, it is something done by millions with no ill effects.

There is a lot of information available out there. The NRA ran a series years ago that made me reevaluate my casting. I don't do it by choice. I do remember two things it is especially dangerous to young children and that the contamination is very hard to clean out of a home and lasts a very long time.

I personally know three people that got into health issues from casting on a large scale.
Heavy metal is hard to get out of the body.

Geo. T.

31 years...

I purchased at a surplus sale a few years ago a fume hood. I got it rigged up in my shop on rope and pulleys to raise it up to the ceiling when I am not using it. I took flexible dryer ducted work to vent it through the wall to the outside. It has 1/4 inch Plexiglas that I can see through and a light in the inside.

I can cast in kind of weather or temperature. I do all my casting in winter when I have more free time.

Fleener

I personally think all the warnings are just hype to get lead banned. I've heard of people getting health issues from casting lead but this was on a large scale. People work with linotype all the time with no ill effects. Basic precautions like good ventilation and wash you hands and clothes will keep you well. Most danger seems to come from spills and spatter. Just my 2 cents. :2

I tend to agree. To get lead vapours/fumes you have to boil it, and that's a lot hotter than you'll ever get it using normal home smelting stuff. I suppose my forge can probably do it - if I leave it in long enough! The thing to watch out for are the fumes from fluxing and/or any impurities in it that might burn off.

As has been mentioned washing one's hands thoroughly is very important (and obviously not using any of the equipment for food production).

Personally, I think spilling the hot lead is potentially a greater danger.

fleener said:

I purchased at a surplus sale a few years ago a fume hood. I got it rigged up in my shop on rope and pulleys to raise it up to the ceiling when I am not using it. I took flexible dryer ducted work to vent it through the wall to the outside. It has 1/4 inch Plexiglas that I can see through and a light in the inside.

I can cast in kind of weather or temperature. I do all my casting in winter when I have more free time.

Fleener

Click to expand...

That certainly sounds like the idea set-up but a lot more work, and investment, than most can justify.
I think the key is amount of casting and proper ventilation.

I set up two box fans about 5ft apart. One pushing and one pulling. I cast between them. Used to do a similar thing when I welded for a living. :thumbsup:

I think I paid around 15-20 bucks for the fume hood, so cost was not an issue. Too much work? Guess that is a personal issue.

My setup might not for everyone, most things are not. But for me I can cast in the dead of winter in Iowa, have my shop closed, heat on and cast all day and not worry about the fumes.

Having a light in the hood is very nice.

I like the safety of not having to worry about any lead splatter into my face. With this setup I only wear one glove for safety.

Fleener

Very nice!!!

As a retired Certified Industrial Hygienist, I can tell you that having a fan set to draw the fumes away from you is much less effective than setting it behind you and having it blow the fumes away from you. Fans are not as effective at sucking fumes away as they are at blowing them away. In general, a fan is 10 times more effective at blowing than it is at sucking in an open setting. The exception to this is if you have a fume hood that will contain the air flow and direct it away from you. Lacking a fume hood, place the fan behind you while you while you cast and have it blow the fumes out of the garage. If you can set up an enclosed fume hood, that is, enclosed on all sides but open to the front, of course, it is preferable to blowing the fumes away from you.

If yu have a way of measuring wind speed, you can set the opening on your hood such that you have a 12 inch high opening. Then measure the velocity of the air movement going into the hood. It should be at least 80 ft./minute but should not exceed 120 ft./ min. If you are below the 80 ft./min. rate, it will not effectively capture the lead fumes. If you exceed the 120 ft./min. rate, it will create a low pressure space behind your back when you are standing at the opening of the hood and can actually draw the fumes into your face rather than taking them away from you.

Lots of good info here. Mike Venturino had an interesting article several years ago about not being afraid of lead. He casts mostly in the winter and he lives in Montana (I think). The key seems to be ventilation, ventilation, ventilation. :hatsoff:

I haven't read the article but if he is saying not to worry about lead fumes, he is wrong. Lead fumes are dangerous and can cause serious health problems. Just because a person has not experienced them YET does not mean that he never will. That would be like a person who has fallen off the top of a very high building and all the way down keeps saying "So far, so good." But, I must repeat that I have not read what he had to say so I may well be wrong in assuming from inference that he is saying that it is not dangerous. Lead fumes are dangerous.

You need to read the article before condemning it. It was mainly about how to cast safely. I know a lot of people hate Venturino but I've found his advice on casting very helpful. The article was in a magazine I took at the time. I'm old so several years in this instance could mean ten or fifteen years :rotf:

Pull OSHA's MSDS sheet on lead. That'll answer your questions.

According to the MSDS book I should be dead by now and not just by touching lead. :idunno: