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Preventing Lead Poisoning in Indoor Firing Ranges
Preventing Lead Poisoning in Indoor Firing Ranges in Colorado
Do you work in an indoor firing range?
Do you use indoor firing ranges?
Do you reload your own ammunition?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have probably been exposed to lead and may be putting yourself and your family at risk for lead poisoning.
Indoor firing and shooting ranges are common sources of adult lead exposure in Colorado. Workers at indoor firing ranges can be exposed to hazardous lead concentrations and may be at risk for lead exposure and lead poisoning. This includes not only the staff and maintenance workers at the firing ranges, but also customers that train at these facilities. If you work or volunteer in a shooting range, are a law enforcement officer, target and hobby shooter, or part of a shooting team, you should know the health effects and symptoms of lead exposure, how to prevent lead exposure, and how to get tested for lead poisoning.
Exposure in Firing Ranges
Lead exposure occurs in indoor firing ranges when proper environmental and occupational health controls are not in place to effectively protect the health of shooters and firing range staff from exposure to lead. Common types of exposures are from inhalation (breathing in lead dust) or ingestion (swallowing lead dust, usually from contaminated hands or food).
Workers are commonly exposed to airborne lead when using ammunition with primers containing lead styphnate or lead bullets. Shooters or anyone in the firing range can be exposed to lead fumes from the "gun smoke" or the lead dust that is released into the air when the gun is fired. Workers can also be exposed to airborne lead dust when cleaning the range and guns or emptying bullet trays.
Workers and hobby shooters can also ingest lead when eating, drinking or smoking. Lead dust can settle on hands, lunchroom surfaces or food and drink. Workers and shooters should wash their hands and face immediately after shooting, cleaning firearms, picking up spent casings/pellets or reloading ammunition, and before eating, drinking or smoking.
Workers and hobby shooters can also carry lead home on their clothing and skin and potentially expose their families to toxic levels of lead. Lead in the home is especially dangerous for children and women of childbearing age
Bullet Loading and Casting Bullets
Bullet loading or melting lead to cast bullets are also common sources of lead exposure. These processes produce a fume that turns into tiny dust particles and can be inhaled or ingested. Proper safety precautions, such as never loading bullets in an unventilated area, inside the home or around children, and wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE) must be taken to prevent lead exposure when loading bullets.
Health Effects and Symptoms
Exposure to lead can cause lead poisoning. Lead can affect the brain, nerves, red blood cells, kidneys and reproductive systems of both men and women. Common symptoms of acute (short-term) lead poisoning are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, constipation, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, moodiness, headache, joint or muscle aches, anemia and decreased sexual drive. Chronic (long-term) overexposure to lead may result in severe damage to the blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Chronic poisoning usually occurs when small amounts of lead gradually build up in the body and result in temporary or permanent damage. An elevated blood lead level test indicates that lead is building up in the body faster than it can be eliminated.
Symptoms may not always be visible. It is important to consult with your doctor if you think you have been exposed to lead or have lead poisoning.
Preventing Lead Exposure
Lead poisoning is 100% preventable. Workers and hobby shooters must be aware of the risks and potential adverse health effects of lead exposure. Proper ventilation, good housekeeping practices and basic personal hygiene practices will limit or eliminate the risk of lead exposure. The following simple steps are recommended to prevent lead exposure:
- 1. Use jacketed ammunition, preferably with non-lead primers, to reduce airborne lead in the range. Consult your range master or manager for more information.
- 2. Check to make sure the firing range has good ventilation to reduce airborne lead levels at the firing line. General exhaust ventilation is not adequate and indoor firing ranges must ensure supplied air moves steadily across all shooting booths to carry the gun smoke away form the shooter's face and directly down the range where it is exhausted, filtered and discharged. A separate ventilation system exclusively for the range is recommended.
- 3. Only cast or fabricate lead bullets in workshops properly equipped to control lead exposure. These workshops should be staffed by trained craftsmen who know how to protect themselves from lead exposure.
4. Never dry sweep an indoor firing range. Wet-mopping or using a vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is recommended to remove lead particles, rather than dry sweeping, pouring or shoveling bullet debris.
5. Minimize airborne lead dust while cleaning the bullet trap. Where possible, debris trays should be emptied inside closed plastic bags. Debris should be repeatedly misted with water during all shoveling operations. New bullet trap designs which do not require cleaning are best and also save time.
6. Never eat, drink or smoke inside a firing range.
7. Wash hands immediately after shooting, cleaning firearms, picking up spent casing pellets or reloading ammunition. Wash hands, forearms, and face before eating, drinking, smoking or contact with other people.
8. Change clothes and shoes before leaving the firing range facilities.
9. Wash clothes or uniforms used at the firing range separately from your family's clothing.-
10. Wear respirators and full protective outer clothing when performing range maintenance. Fit-tested NIOSH approved respirators with HEPA filters should be worn during all cleaning operations. Lead particles will pass through common paper dust masks.
11. Wear gloves and eye protection when using chemicals to clean weapons or firing range surfaces.
12. Have your blood lead level tested. If you work in a firing range, you can participate in your workplace bio-monitoring program to monitor blood lead levels.
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Get your blood lead level tested
Contact your health care provider for additional information on having your blood lead level tested.
Lead poisoning is 100% preventable. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Colorado’s Occupational Health Surveillance Program at (303) 692-2964