How careful do I need to be around lead?

[Other.]

Today got me thinking. How careful should I be around lead. I keep all my fishing equipment in my bedroom. A lot of it containing lead weights. I keep them in containers except for the few that don't have homes. I'm sleeping right next to this stuff practically. I don't know to much about lead but can't the poisons move through the air? If lead paint caused poisoning in some people I'm sure a whole bunch of lead weights sure could.

[Babelfish42]

I really would not worry about it too much.  The three main ways to get lead poisoning are

 Deteriorating lead-based paint

 Lead contaminated dust

 Lead contaminated soil

So as long as your not chewing on your stuff you should be fine.   ;D

[dmac14]

Well back when i was little i would open lead split shots using my teeth and then often let it sit in my mouth till i had to re apply. Didn't do too much to me  

[Scorcher214]

Yeah, I don't worry about it too much, sometimes when I'm messing around in my tackle box, I might have a lead bullet weight in my teeth ready to go on line, I'm trying to get off the bad habit, but so far it hasn't done anything to me. Yet.....

If your worried about it enough, read up on it.

[retiredbosn]

First no lead particles can not move through the air, unless it is pulverized into dust and then blown using a fairly high pressure system, lead is just to dense to ride on normal air currents.  Lead paint poisons from ingesting it, and I mean a lot of it, most of us slept in cribs covered in lead based paint, lived in houses painted with lead based paint, played on lineoleum floors made of asbestos, not to mention drank water that ran through galvinized steel pipes (talk about lead ingestion). So in short unless you are eating about a pound of your lead weights on a daily basis you have nothing to worry about.

[Bad to da Bass]

I would not be to concerned, but I would not be putting the lead in my mouth like some of these guys have said.

8-)

[fishizzle]

Lead dust can float in the air then settle, then re float when disturbed but the amount that would harm an adult has to be quite significant.  It is much more harmful to children whose bodies store it rather than expel it  like adults.  Long term it causes brain damage.  Remodeling an old house or digging in dirt next to an old house that has been scraped of lead paint are 2 significant ways to harm children.

No worries about lead heads next to your bed unless you are filing them down while you sleep.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

Well apparently it only causes cancer in California so just stay out of cali and you'll be fine  

yeah....just don't eat it or get it on your skin or breathe it in if you melt it down to make weights

[retiredbosn]

Here is something to think about when it comes to the "harmful" properties of lead. There are millions of pounds of game shot and consumed by hunters every year. Everyonce and a while you eat a lead shot, at the very least the game is cooked with the lead in place. If lead is as lethal as many claim there would be 1000's of lead related casualties per year, and all of them would be hunters or their children.

[retiredbosn]

Lead dust can float in the air then settle, then re float when disturbed but the amount that would harm an adult has to be quite significant.

Impossible, unless the lead granules are microscopic, and part of regular dust particles.  Pure lead will not be disbursed through the air.

[CWB]

The only trouble you'll have with lead is if you happen to swallow some sinkers or if it is in a shotgun shell and your girlfriends father is aiming the shotgun at you.   :D

[SimonSays]

Well apparently it only causes cancer in California so just stay out of cali and you'll be fine

;D ;D ;D

You'll be fine, just don't eat any.

[FD.]

Just remember to duck if it is coming at you at 800 feet per second. ;D

[fathom]

as long as you don't put it into any bodily orifice, you'll be fine.

[reo]

I used to work at a battery company where we serviced industrial sized batteries (think batteries the size of a small car). We ground, buffed, burned and melted lead daily, then swept the mess up at the end of the day. We wore respirators most of the time. We also got blood tests for lead every three months. Even working in that environment my levels never went up. After moving to another career I had my blood tested again just to be sure and all was good.

Bottom line, although some common sense is needed, especially for children, lead is not the boogy man that some make it out to be. Sleep well

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i dont think lead will hurt unless it gets in ur blood stream then it causes probs with oxygen intake to cappiliaries

[Bassn Blvd]

I'd be more concerned with the person cooking/handling your food in a restaurant.

[SirSnookalot]

I used to work at a battery company where we serviced industrial sized batteries (think batteries the size of a small car). We ground, buffed, burned and melted lead daily, then swept the mess up at the end of

This man knows what he is talking about. I owned a scrap metal company for 35 years handling thousands of tons of lead in various forms : ingot, all size batteries, typeset, linotype etc. Also I have spent a lot time in lead processing plants as well. You will not get sick from a small amount of lead weights especially if most of them are in containers. I would wash my hands after handling them for long periods of time, but just putting a sinker on a line will a nil affect.

None the less , an excellent question.

[DADto4]

I'd be more concerned with the person cooking/handling your food in a restaurant.

X2!!!!!

[fishizzle]

Lead dust can float in the air then settle, then re float when disturbed but the amount that would harm an adult has to be quite significant.

Impossible, unless the lead granules are microscopic, and part of regular dust particles. Pure lead will not be disbursed through the air.

Yes I am talking about microscopic

this is from the EPA website:

> Dust can become contaminated with lead

when lead-based paint is dry scraped or sanded. Dust can also

become contaminated when painted surfaces bump or rub

together. Lead chips and dust can gather on surfaces and objects

that people touch or that children put into their mouths

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadrev.pdf

[J Francho]

From what I've read after doing a little research, most lead contamination in water is from leaded fuel.

[MitchIsFishin]

Funny, I used to play with lead and mercury as a kid, and nothing happened to me, so I'm told.

[Other.]

Thanks for the responses. With the label saying "known to cause birth defects" I do believe it is worth my time to find out about the stuff.

[Crestliner2008]

Funny, I used to play with lead and mercury as a kid, and nothing happened to me, so I'm told.

X2 - And after 64 years, I'm still kickin' with a great physical report from my doctor! We use to shine up half and silver dollars with mercury and most schools let the kids handle the stuff in science projects. I've been pouring lead weights all my life. So far, no ill effects. Maybe after I'm dead they'll find something? My name is....uh....what was that question again?

[bassman31783]

Dang it BigRick, you beat me too it ;D. I always get a kick out of how it seems that California is the only state that knows it causes cancer.

As far as the original question goes. The only reason they put that on the package is because they have found out that if a Lab Rat eats a steady diet of lead they eventually show signs of cancer. So unless your eating lead bullet weights to see if they come out looking the same  , I'd say that you'll be just fine.