A count of 12 is a serious level for a child. The question that comes up is all states using the same measuring system?
http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/2526.pdfAreas on and around Air Bases are noted for their high level of hazardous waste. They are still cleaning up bases shut down by the Clinton Administration so they can be turned over to civilians. Toxic waste has seeped out of the bases into off base housing and building. Before communities built up to the gates the boundaries of many bases were much larger during WWII. Many acres have gone to civilian developers in which the military claimed that all munitions had been cleaned up. Home builder’s bull dozers continue to find munitions and old chemical dumps.
The chemicals used to clean aircraft engines are very powerful and have found their way into ground water. Chemicals were found to be migrating up the walls of homes just off a California base. At first the Air Forest claimed it was not responsible. Later investigation found the area was part of the base in WWII and it was a dumpsite. DOD has purchased those homes. This happens to be the same base the AF air rescue people put a session on for us on treating gunshot wounds. Fine, smart, men who provide service beyond the norm.
I have been in some old buildings on bases that the guys call a “paint chip factory” from all the old paint peeling off the walls. I can remember the days when Lead Based paint was the way to go because it offered longevity.
If there is a gathering spot on base where the wives take the little guys I would be concerned. The U.S. Government has consumed a lot of lead base paint over the years.
I hate to think about the lead/mercury in my drinking water as it flows in my copper pipes that likely have lead solder in the joints. During the gold rush a lot of mercury was used to separate the gold out. They now advise us not to eat the bass, and perch that live in the lakes our water comes from.
Dinny in 45 years of marriage I have gone from the kitchen table to the garage because of different housing. I have been in the same little space for over twenty years which has expanded to two benches. But you have me thinking. The other day the wife caught me running the shop vac because I had spilled a bunch of spent primers on the floor. But the “light” came on yesterday afternoon, a little slow but it came on. I have an old but good army footlocker that I have been storing a fair inventory off bullets. I was taking count of jacked .277 bullets. At the bottom was a box of 150-grain Hornady Spire Point bullets; one of my favorite bullets. They were blacken with corrosion from thirty years of storage. I put them in my tumbler for a couple hours to clean them up a little, not the full shine job. This morning I thought about fine lead particles coming off the exposed tips.
Normal practice for me is to run the tumbler with the lid on and after seeing the suggestion to put a couple of used anti-static sheets in tumbler it seems the operation is cleaner. This winter I bought a 50-pound bag of fine grade Walnut shell for tumbling at the local feed store for $11.
Old Syko offered a good reminder because it dropped out of my memory bank. Dinny does not cast bullets; he is user of cast bullets.
In recent weeks I have been checking my inventory of bullets, some going down range, and new ones being added. I have a couple thousand plus lead bullets on hand, plus a lot of jacketed bullets with exposed lead tips. I added 500 JHP .357 bullets recently in a deal with my brother.
I am not worry about it. My loading practices have changed over the years. With the advent of cheap latex gloves I have a box near my loading bench and I wear them. I started wearing them when cleaning firearms. For a long time I used the old GI stuff. That is the one thing my wife is picky about, when I used that the cloths I was wearing immediately went into the laundry basket, and I hit the shower. A couple of quarts of that last a long time, but I keep it around if I am shooting some old military ammo at the range.
Rental property is tough; I have raided a few drug labs that were in rentals. I suspect the landlord did not tell the next renters the property up for rent was a drug lab. I know of a couple of college students who rebuilt a car engine in the bath tub of their rental.
