America's Real Criminal Element: Lead

[indymike]

Not sure if this is the right section for this but it has to do with crime rates and crime policy so I guess this is the right area. If not, please move. It is a fascinating theory on Lead (Pb) being the real culprit in the rise and fall of crime rates.

As a forward to this article, I recently had my blood lead levels checked and they were elevated. Not horrible but more than twice the limit that the CDC recommends. My real concern is that I am a reloader and frequent shooter and have two small children, both under 5.

I have since changed the way I do everything with respect to reloading and shooting (which was already very hygienically "buttoned down") in an effort to keep my kids from getting even the slightest exposure to lead. It is true that generations of kids were exposed to way worse and the little my kids are exposed to will have small and possibly insignificant effects on them but what parent doesn't want to give their kids every intellectual or emotional advantage within the parent's control.

As I researched statistics and studies on the effects of early lead exposure on children and the subsequent cognitive and behavior problems later in childhood and early adulthood, I came across this extremely compelling article. I say "extremely" compelling because of the way they control for all other factors in their statistical models. 10 years ago I would typically greet statistics with a large number of variables with some measured incredulity but after taking 2 semesters of graduate level statistics a few years ago, I now understand the power of these mathematical tools and no longer ignore them.

Any article that pokes and probes and searches and digs through the data to scientifically "yank out" the likely cause, not just a link, is something I really admire and this article does that. To get the most of it, be sure to read and analyze the graphs/data very closely. So anyway, here's the article:

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead | Mother Jones

 

[OneShotFOGE]

So how should one avoid lead contamination when shooting or reloading. I am a bit of a clean freak so I always wash my hands after handling ammo or shooting.

 

[indymike]

Well in my situation, I am, among many other things, simply cutting back on reloading and shooting until my kids are out of the age range when lead exposure is most dangerous. I won't stop completely but I am cutting way back.

If you don't have any kids living in the home (or plan to in the near future), basic reloading and shooting hygiene should be enough, even when reloading cast bullets and shooting them indoors. Adults can be have lead levels up to 40 µg/dL or more before experiencing symptoms and some can have even much higher levels chronically and never experience immediate symptoms. Long term symptoms will definitely manifest themselves but by that time heart disease, cancer and other issues are just as likely to occur. For kids though, it's a totally different story.

But these are basics for me now with regard to this hobby and I know they seem to go overboard and borderline paranoid to some but it's what I choose to do. I will probably let up on these significantly once my kids are grown....especially the bullet type I shoot, damn these are expensive unless you find pulled bullets.

I now shoot complete metal jacket or total metal jacket bullets, shooting almost exclusively outdoors, have a pair of "shooting shoes" in the trunk that stay in the trunk after shooting so I don't drag lead dust through the house, basic stuff liking washing hands thoroughly after shooting, clean guns with nitrile gloves, wash clothes immediately (and without other laundry) immediately when I get home from the range, shower right away to get dust out of hair, always handle spent brass with disposable nitrile gloves, store empty gun bag on a shelf away from areas where kids play and wash it periodically, tumble brass and separate outdoors always (and not very often), wear basic painters mask when separating brass/media, reload with gloves and wipe down area with wet wipes after every reload session paying special attention to where spent primer dust/pieces fall since lead styphnate is pretty nasty stuff.

I really love this hobby but with 2 little kids, I have to balance their well being with my desire for fun and balance it responsibly. I know some will think this is paranoid and exaggerated and that may indeed turn out to be the case. But I want to be overly cautious when it comes to their well being.

Lastly, in a perfect world I would have a shed, separate from the house to reload, clean guns etc. but I don't. Additionally, I am considering going to ultrasonic wet brass cleaners before tumbling to cut down on my exposure to dust. According to my Dr., the inhalation is my main exposure from the indoor range and the brass/media separation. For this kids it's the kids at "everything they touch goes in their mouth" age that is the risk for them, including anything sprinkled with dust I drag unwittingly into the house after handling spent brass or coming home from the range.

 

[OneShotFOGE]

wow! Thanks for the advice. Cant say Ill be doing all of that but some of that never occurred to me. Never thought of changing shoes but that makes sense. I dont have kids yet and wont for at least a couple years so I dont have to be too worried, but I may start changing my clothes and shoes. I dont reload and dont really plan to do so. Not worth my time.

 

[jayhawk]

Wow, thanks for posting this...quite eye opening. I've always avoided indoor shooting ranges, but I had no idea that such widespread correlations between lead and behavior existed.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

So how should one avoid lead contamination when shooting or reloading. I am a bit of a clean freak so I always wash my hands after handling ammo or shooting.

To add to what has been raised earlier:

1. Baby wipes in the range bag. Use them during breaks. Get under those nails.

2. Wash your hands and face with cold water. Your safety gear includes a hat for a reason, to keep the lead dust out of your hair. (Do not collect brass in your hat).

3. After shooting, go home and shower. Do not sit around and stew in your polluted clothing, or, even worse, go to eat. Eat before shooting.

4. After showering, put on clean clothing.

5. Wipe your range shoes down with your baby wipes.

6. Wash your range clothing shortly after shooting.

 

[indymike]

The most compelling arguments in this article, IMO are summarized here (bold and italics are mine):

"That tip took Nevin in a different direction. The biggest source of lead in the postwar era, it turns out, wasn't paint. It was leaded gasoline. And if you chart the rise and fall of atmospheric lead caused by the rise and fall of leaded gasoline consumption, you get a pretty simple upside-down U: Lead emissions from tailpipes rose steadily from the early '40s through the early '70s, nearly quadrupling over that period. Then, as unleaded gasoline began to replace leaded gasoline, emissions plummeted.
Gasoline lead may explain as much as 90 percent of the rise and fall of violent crime over the past half century.

"Intriguingly, violent crime rates followed the same upside-down U pattern. The only thing different was the time period: Crime rates rose dramatically in the '60s through the '80s, and then began dropping steadily starting in the early '90s. The two curves looked eerily identical, but were offset by about 20 years." (note the year differences on the x axis)

"Like many good theories, the gasoline lead hypothesis helps explain some things we might not have realized even needed explaining. For example, murder rates have always been higher in big cities than in towns and small cities. We're so used to this that it seems unsurprising, but Nevin points out that it might actually have a surprising explanation—because big cities have lots of cars in a small area, they also had high densities of atmospheric lead during the postwar era. But as lead levels in gasoline decreased, the differences between big and small cities largely went away. And guess what? The difference in murder rates went away too. Today, homicide rates are similar in cities of all sizes. It may be that violent crime isn't an inevitable consequence of being a big city after all."