Lead Exposure & Wade's

[206thsense]

As reported on the Seattle Times:

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Brief quote:

Seavoy and Schmidt, both ironworkers, are among dozens of construction workers and firing-range employees who were exposed to excess lead, sparking multiple government investigations and a lawsuit.

Three children and two women in workers’ households also tested positive for excess lead, suspected to have been brought home on workers’ clothes, boots and tools.

A 15-year King County health official said it is the first case of its kind she has seen. A state occupational-health monitor called it “significant, even historical.”

Eight former employees sued Wade’s in King County Superior Court on Tuesday, claiming that they were sickened by lead, that safety laws were violated and that wastes were washed down storm drains and dumped on a hillside. Construction workers have not filed a lawsuit.

Probably a good reminder of the importance of washing your hands (and laundry) after a trip to the range, especially if you field-stripped your gun and cleaned it there too.

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[206thsense]

Update:

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[Misterbill]

"Excess levels of lead" is highly debatable.

We have gone absolutely berserk on the subject of lead. Levels that now make for a big deal were considered normal not long ago. Remember that the Romans used lead to PIPE THEIR WATER and managed to rule their entire world for 600 years.

Not to mention that every cub scout who did pinewood derby up until pretty recently melted lead over the stove to weight down their pinewood derby cars and we seem to have managed alright.

Clearly lots of lead exposure is not a good thing at all. I'm not disputing it. But the current absolute panic over the stuff is vastly over-blown. It's like the studies on tobacco that came out about 25 years ago. Based on those claims, every smoker in the world would have been dead within a decade or two.

Avoiding a substance that's toxic if you get too much, I'm all for it. Acting as though lead were freakin' mustard gas is a bit overmuch though.

 

[mckenzb]

"Excess levels of lead" is highly debatable.

We have gone absolutely berserk on the subject of lead. Levels that now make for a big deal were considered normal not long ago. Remember that the Romans used lead to PIPE THEIR WATER and managed to rule their entire world for 600 years.

Not to mention that every cub scout who did pinewood derby up until pretty recently melted lead over the stove to weight down their pinewood derby cars and we seem to have managed alright.

Clearly lots of lead exposure is not a good thing at all. I'm not disputing it. But the current absolute panic over the stuff is vastly over-blown. It's like the studies on tobacco that came out about 25 years ago. Based on those claims, every smoker in the world would have been dead within a decade or two.

Avoiding a substance that's toxic if you get too much, I'm all for it. Acting as though lead were freakin' mustard gas is a bit overmuch though.

I fully agree with you. Everybody's looking for that next get rich without working scheme anymore and this seems like the easiest method to do it (suing). I hope the judge see's this case in a reasonable way and doesn't cower down to the blood sucking lawyers that'll get 1/2 of the money.
On a side note, I'd be curious to see where my lead levels are if at all. I've been melting and pouring my fishing leads since I was a kid, and I can't even begin to count the hundreds of thousands of lead splitshot that I've bit down to pinch my line since I was a kid...

 

[Fisher Bill]

So I've been working in printing for over 30 years and back in my letterpress days we had to get checked twice a year. We melted the lead into what we called pigs or bars with hooks and fed them through linotype machines and those machines created the type for the pocket checks we printed, after printing the lead goes back in the pot.

We had to wear respirators when in the melting room along with face and body protection and it was in the mid 80's, I have no idea what the limit was then but we did have to sit out some guys for a couple of months until their blood test were in the acceptable range.

Now that I make my fishing weights I take several precautions but I can see how this could very well be legitimate because the body wants to absorb zinc and will absorb lead in the same manner.

If the construction workers are breathing the lead dust it would get their levels up faster than the gasses we were exposed to and lead poisoning is very serious.

In fact the inventor of the linotype went insane (always an inside joke at work) and it was later attributed to lead poisoning.

 

[Jabba]

The permissible exposure limit is 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8 hour period. Blood sampling limit level is 40 microgram per deciliter. If it goes over 50, you are required to be removed from the job, with medical removal protection, meaning the employer has to keep paying you and give you a job with no lead exposure.

 

[Jabba]

I should add, this is from the OSHA standards for the construction industry, so if you're not doing "construction" than a different book would apply, but I don't see why the levels would be different. It's the most boring reading you can imagine, even the dictionary's better.

 

[deen_ad]

This is one of the latest "tactics" by the gun grabbers. One of our local ranges got turned into the EPA for lead contamination. The gun grabbing nuts wanted it shut down but the club was able to do ventilation changes.
Lots of you here know the story better than I do.

 

[deen_ad]

I should add, this is from the OSHA standards for the construction industry, so if you're not doing "construction" than a different book would apply, but I don't see why the levels would be different. It's the most boring reading you can imagine, even the dictionary's better.

When I was on construction inspection for the WSDOT we had a "Specification Book", some 700-800 pages of small print. Also a good one to put you to sleep!