Can a person be exposed to lead poisoning from constant exposre to lead from firearm usage?

Question

Training firearm usage to recruits in basic camp
if so -- would this type of exposure lead to
cardiovascular problems later in life --

Answer 1

Yes, it can and does. In fact there are now statutes in place for indoor ranges due to these very real concerns, though outdoor ranges are not under the same constraints as it would be next to impossible. This is not to say that the range officers at such facilities are not at risk as reports of lead poisoning have been reported.

While the danger is a real and present one, the various ammo manufacturers are addressing this issue and through research and testing are searching for a viable alternative to lead. Sadly lead is a lot like asbestos, something that works so good that replacing it with a safer material with equivalent properties is extremely difficult.

My advice would be only shoot in ranges with efficient down draft air purification systems in place or barring that outdoor facilities on 'slow' days so as to reduce airborne particle risk. Sorry, but those are the facts and as a former high volume shooter I share the same concerns. Oh well, at least if it it gets to the point where it becomes to much to bear I know for a fact I won't miss the last shot. Good luck.

Answer 2

Probably not. In the US military, all bullets are fully jacketed in a much harder metal than lead. Recruits in basic training are exposed to virtually no lead at all.
On the practice range at your local rod and gun club, however, there is a certain level of risk. Most have been in operation for years and have had hundreds of thousands of rounds fired into the earthen berms that form the backstops for their targets. In addition, most of them have had tens of thousands of rounds of shotgun ammo fired over them, resulting in considerable amounts of lead pellets left downrange. In Ithaca, New York, next to the now-defunct Ithaca Gun factory, is Gun Barrel Falls, a pretty little waterfall over which factory technicians for years test-fired every gun ever made by the plant. Gun Barrel Falls and the water running off it are seriously polluted by all that lead shot.
While the shooters on the ranges I mentioned and the technicians at Ithaca Gun are unlikely to be at risk, anyone who goes plodding around downrange at the gun clubs or mucking about in Gun Barrel Falls may well expose himself or herself to dangerous levels of lead.

Answer 3

Only if you are in FRONT of the firearm. You tend to die very quickly from lead poisoning...
Just handle the cartridges from the brass end if you are worried.

Answer 4

Only if you stand in front of the barrel.

Answer 5

PEOPLE FIRE THOUSANDS OF ROUNDS A YEAR...
LEAD IS NOT LIKE IT WAS BACK 30 40 YEARS AGO.

DON'T WORRY TODAY

DON'T CONSUME IT....

Answer 6

if it does a lot of us are going to be dying soon