Thread: Lead bullets and their risk to human health

nope, carrots are evil

Originally Posted by Tahr

I cant find a single scientific peer reviewed research finding that says lead in bullets is not dangerous. A quick search brings up hundreds that says it is.

E.g. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...Ammunition.pdf

I expect that there is something in all of this.

You do get that many search engines, Google in particular, operate on a confirmation bias protocol. I'm not saying lead isn't bad for you but we're all subject to confirmation bias from within as well as from without

Lead is dangerous.
But that report references contamination per deciliter of blood.
It also suggests someone subsistence living on hunted meat can have 50% more lead than someone who doesn't.
It doesn't say how much is bad for the non hunted sample.
Lead is bad-yes.
But for the amount I shoot and eat I'm certainly not worried about it one bit.
Driving around a built up area with the window down all the time is probably worse for you.
I would also suggest that as I cut out any bloodshot meat, as most would do, the risk is lessened further

Pies contain a golf ball of fat....sugar will rot your teeth..coca cola will rot your stomach. Cabbage will make your hair go Curly...Vegemite will make you strong...milk will give you strong bones...sunlight is good for you..slip slop slap..slip slop slap n wrap... We all will eventually die of something,I just don't see it being from lead out of game.

You probably won't die from lead poisoning, but you will probably wish to die, because of how it destroys your health and quality of life. The father of a mate of mine had high blood lead from sanding a house covered with lead-based paint. He often slept in a chair, because he couldn't pick himself up and get into bed. Chelation fixed him up, but it took a while, and it had its own health side effects.

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

You probably won't die from lead poisoning, but you will probably wish to die, because of how it destroys your health and quality of life. The father of a mate of mine had high blood lead from sanding a house covered with lead-based paint. He often slept in a chair, because he couldn't pick himself up and get into bed. Chelation fixed him up, but it took a while, and it had its own health side effects.

Yeah and panel-beater mate of mine has tested at elevated Pb levels at least 3x that I know of, the worst after sanding/painting an old house he was renting back in mid-eighties. He recovered alright. The only thing that's fucked him up over the years is too much recreational drugs from time to time. Haven't seen him for a couple of years but he's still working in the trade, living life full and on the edge. As FDR once said, "there is nothing to fear in life but fear itself"

It's a good thing that mercury doesn't come out of amalgam fillings then isn't it, or a lot of us would be "twinkle twinkle little bat" crazy or worse. Anyone elseremember Minimata?

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

It's a good thing that mercury doesn't come out of amalgam fillings then isn't it, or a lot of us would be "twinkle twinkle little bat" crazy or worse. Anyone elseremember Minimata?

It does.

Originally Posted by Tahr

I cant find a single scientific peer reviewed research finding that says lead in bullets is not dangerous. A quick search brings up hundreds that says it is.

E.g. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...Ammunition.pdf

I expect that there is something in all of this.

The faster they go, the bigger the mess!!!

(Someone had too...)

Originally Posted by No.3

If we all went over to alternative ammo, the price would come down I expect due to volumes.

It has been the direct opposite to this with shotgun ammunition.

Originally Posted by Kune

It has been the direct opposite to this with shotgun ammunition.

It's a relative thing - all ammo has got dearer, might be better to phrase it that the price increases would not be so large???

Originally Posted by No.3

It's a relative thing - all ammo has got dearer, might be better to phrase it that the price increases would not be so large???

Considering steel is way cheaper than lead steel shot is not only still dearer than lead shot, it's way more expensive than it should be

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Considering steel is way cheaper than lead steel shot is not only still dearer than lead shot, it's way more expensive than it should be

Steel shot cartridges at least trap were initially significantly cheaper than lead I think 20% at least. Now they are the same. Certain events ( handicap by distance and gymcrak) can't be shot using steel as there's not enough residual energy as iron is 32% lighter than lead.
copper is about 25% lighter so to retain similar bullet weight you have a longer bullet that may give problems with stability.

Steel may be cheaper than lead but what does it cost to process it from billet to shot?

Originally Posted by techno retard

Steel may be cheaper than lead but what does it cost to process it from billet to shot?

Exactly, it's much cheaper as I understand it to produce lead shot than steel. The difference as I understand it is the steel is more labour intensive to ensure it's actually round and not odd-shaped - steel can't be dropped and then graded into sizes and/or reject like lead can.

Interesting that this popped up today, Winchesters new cartridge for the states where lead will be banned.