Loading Lead-Who wears gloves?

man my lead level is probably still super high. I had a test done a couple years back and I was in the "extreme" range. but no adverse health issues as far as me or the doc could tell. That's the dumb thing about lead in your body, everyone reacts differently. I should probably get re-tested though.
as for reloading, I used to wear gloves when I loaded .40 but for 9mm I find that I just can't reliably seat the bullets on the case mouth without trouble when I wear gloves. so since I almost straight 9mm these days I don't wear them much anymore.
 
I wear nitrile glove for gun cleaning, reloading, working on the car. The are $8 a box and don't melt from oil/solvents. If you wear gloves make sure the fit tight. Nitrile also takes the shape of your hand and diesn't "pull" like latex.
 
I load .38 spec in lead and do not wear gloves. But I get a leadache (a headache after shooting lots of lead) at the range. I assume it is from breathing the fumes from the lubricant.
 
I used to wear latex gloves when reloading, but I found the static electricity from them made the powder do weird things (like stick to the sides of the funnel) when I was attempting to charge the brass. That was before I bought the Lee automatic powder thing. Don't bother with gloves now, but I don't load in ultra large batches and I wash my hands often.
 
Metalic (Elemental) lead is _not_ a significant source of bio-active lead. Even most lead oxides are so stable as to be virtually inert.
The trouble comes from soluable lead salts, like those released by conventional primers and by the action of the burning powder on the base of lead bullets.

The fact is that you could live out you days with no ill effects if you had an once of #8 birdshot imbedded in you. Unless the pellets were causing some sort of mechanical problem (like joint or circulatory problems) most doctors wouldn'r even bother to remove them.
(this is not to be confised with the problems that fowl can encounter when lead shot is ingested, caught in the gizzard, and slowly ground-up with some gravel in a strong acid solution)
Transdermal/transcutanious lead absorbtion from handling lead alloy bullets is not an issue, even with children. Washing before smoking or eating is an excellent idea.
 
I was actually going to buy one of the mask the cyclists wear in London, but can't find a Canadian source for them. they are neoprene and have, apparently, filters that will filter out lead from car exhaust.
 
Splatter is correct in his assesment of metallic lead and other chemical coumpounds that contain lead in chemical combination with other elements. The term 'lead' is loosley and incorrectly bantered about by the media and other misinformed groups that have NO technical expertise in chemistry or toxicology, resulting in a general and undeserved paronoia for lumps of metallic lead. A general list of lead coumpounds or states of lead in order of decending toxicity is as follows:
organic lead coumpounds, eg. tetraethyl lead.
inorganic ionic coumpounds, eg. lead chloride.
lead oxides.
lead vapour as present over the melt pot.
fine metallic lead dust.
lead lumps, eg. bullets.

Handling lead bullets is not a health hazard worthy of any remedial precautions, but there is no harm in it either.
Shooting in an indoor range is only a concern if the primers are charged with Lead Styphinate as prosper has inducated in this thread; the lead comes from the priming charge, not the cast lead bullet. Most primers are now charged with Diazodinitrophenyl (DDNP), no lead. Lead Styphinate is orange-red in color and DDNP is green in color; you can see the priming charge down in the cup when you look past the anvil.
 
I usually drink beer while loading, keeps the blood thin so the lead gets flushed out. On the other hand, as I get older, a little more lead in the pencil might not be too bad!
 
I was a commercial bullet maker (Accurate Bullet Co) for 8 years, wore gloves only for feeding my three Ballisticast auto casters with 25lb bars. Had my lead levels checked every two years, was never high. Lead is taken into the body orally, either aerosol or from the hands. I washed my hands several times a day, never ate while in the workshop, have never smoked (think about lead residue on the fingers handling cigarettes, then inhaling it as it burns down).
 
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