Air Rifle pellet and lead poisoning

[roshanfriends]

Dear IFGians,
Yesterday I bought my first air rifle UTA mod 35 in Chennai for Rs. 4000. I browsed through the internet regarding air gun safety and came across various articles regarding Lead Poisoning related to air rifle pellets and the care with which we should handle the lead pellets like washing hands , not touching children after using etc. After this i am thinking if I had bought the gun out of over curiosity without considering the risks. Experienced members please guide me..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

[jignesh712712]

upload your new air rifle pic.

[roshanfriends]

I will....please guide me about my doubt

[gpgs19]

Hi Roshan!Lead is poisonous and it is dangerous under certain conditions.but also it can very easily be avoided.
1. Wash hand after use.
2. Do not shoot pellets into you well or water tank.
3. Be most careful that children do not take pellets into their mouth.
4. Do not melt used ones.(the fume is most dangerous).
5. Don't be panic bec it not a poison like snake venoum or arsenic.......Romans were using lead pipes to convey water...
Congrats for your new gun.

Regards

[fantumfan2003]

I don't think there is need to be so paranoid about it. If you found articles on lead poisoning, you would have surely found information how to avoid lead poisoning.

Here are some simple rules to follow.

1) Do not eat food with your hands/fingers during shooting with your air rifle
2) Wash your hands with plenty of soap and water after you are done shooting with your air rifle, soap used for utensils works best
3) Always store your pellets in their respective plastic box away from other household items and discard empty pellet boxes immediately because at least the Indian pellets contain residual lead dust in the bottom of the box which is more harmful.
4) LEARN AND OBEY GUN RULES VERY STRICTLY
5) LEARN TO USE YOUR AIR RIFLE IN THE CORRECT WAY

Focus on enjoying the sport rather than focusing on the risks it carries.

M.

Dear IFGians,
Yesterday I bought my first air rifle UTA mod 35 in Chennai for Rs. 4000. I browsed through the internet regarding air gun safety and came across various articles regarding Lead Poisoning related to air rifle pellets and the care with which we should handle the lead pellets like washing hands , not touching children after using etc. After this i am thinking if I had bought the gun out of over curiosity without considering the risks. Experienced members please guide me..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

[THX 1138]

Dear Roshanfriends,

Truly appreciate you bringing up this topic; the pellets for airguns can be a source of lead poisoning if not handled with care. I realized this after seeing visible lead traces/marks left by the pellets on a A4 paper used during a plinking session. Since that time i take extra precaution in handling the pellets, i don't touch them with bare hands and have collected all the spent pellets in a bottle to avoid children from coming in contact with them.

[roshanfriends]

Thank you all for your ideas.....What is the best way to handle pellets? Is it with gloved hands. But still we got to handle the pellets and touch the gun with the same hands which may transfer the lead particles to it.
What about the smoke coming out of rifle? Does it contain lead too? We tend to inhale it sometimes....

[xl_target]

You're going a little overboard. To be poisonous to humans lead has to enter the bloodstream. For it to enter the blood stream, you have to ingest it. That means you have to eat it or inhale lead dust or vapor (when melting lead). Even if you accidentally swallow a pellet, it is usually coated over and expelled. Lead cannot generally be absorbed through the skin but if you eat or smoke after handling raw lead or lead particles, you could ingest it. Please note that if, in the rare circumstance, you are regularly exposed to lead that can be ingested, the build up in your body is cumulative.

Use common sense and wash your hands before eating or smoking after you have handled lead and you will have no problems.If you follow the basic hygiene that you were taught in elementary school, you will be fine. Obviously you want to pick up your spent pellets, if you have very young children. They tend to try and eat anything they can lay their hands on.

Considerably more important than lead ingestion is gun safety. Please treat your airgun as you would a real firearm. An airgun is not a toy. Learn the four basic rules of gun safety till you can say them in your sleep.


1) Treat all guns as if they are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4) Identify your target, and what is behind it.

If you follow these rules religiously, you will have a safe and fun time with your airgun.

Congratulations on your new airgun!

[gpgs19]

You're going a little overboard. To be poisonous to humans lead has to enter the bloodstream. For it to enter the blood stream, you have to ingest it. That means you have to eat it or inhale lead dust or vapor (when melting lead). Even if you accidentally swallow a pellet, it is usually coated over and expelled. Lead cannot generally be absorbed through the skin but if you eat or smoke after handling raw lead or lead particles, you could ingest it. Please note that if, in the rare circumstance, you are regularly exposed to lead that can be ingested, the build up in your body is cumulative.

Use common sense and wash your hands before eating or smoking after you have handled lead and you will have no problems.If you follow the basic hygiene that you were taught in elementary school, you will be fine. Obviously you want to pick up your spent pellets, if you have very young children. They tend to try and eat anything they can lay their hands on.

Considerably more important than lead ingestion is gun safety. Please treat your airgun as you would a real firearm. An airgun is not a toy. Learn the four basic rules of gun safety till you can say them in your sleep.


1) Treat all guns as if they are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4) Identify your target, and what is behind it.

If you follow these rules religiously, you will have a safe and fun time with your airgun.

Congratulations on your new airgun!

[rraju2805]

You're going a little overboard. To be poisonous to humans lead has to enter the bloodstream. For it to enter the blood stream, you have to ingest it. That means you have to eat it or inhale lead dust or vapor (when melting lead). Even if you accidentally swallow a pellet, it is usually coated over and expelled. Lead cannot generally be absorbed through the skin but if you eat or smoke after handling raw lead or lead particles, you could ingest it. Please note that if, in the rare circumstance, you are regularly exposed to lead that can be ingested, the build up in your body is cumulative.

Use common sense and wash your hands before eating or smoking after you have handled lead and you will have no problems.If you follow the basic hygiene that you were taught in elementary school, you will be fine. Obviously you want to pick up your spent pellets, if you have very young children. They tend to try and eat anything they can lay their hands on.

Considerably more important than lead ingestion is gun safety. Please treat your airgun as you would a real firearm. An airgun is not a toy. Learn the four basic rules of gun safety till you can say them in your sleep.


1) Treat all guns as if they are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4) Identify your target, and what is behind it.

If you follow these rules religiously, you will have a safe and fun time with your airgun.

Congratulations on your new airgun!

[dr.jayakumar]

airgun shooting isn't poisonous as you think,lead poisoning happens by ingestion and inhalation of lead oxide(leaded petrol etc).
only precaution you need to know is; firearm safety.
http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/
regards.

[roshanfriends]

Thank you all for taking time and patience to clear my doubts...

[Rijo Joseph]

While we plink one of my friend has a habit of putting few pellets in mouth and using it one by one for shots, but after couple of hours he had head ache and i warned about this, and he stopped, now he don't have head ache after practices.

handle it properly. especially if kids are accessible to it.

[snIPer]

While we plink one of my friend has a habit of putting few pellets in mouth and using it one by one for shots, but after couple of hours he had head ache and i warned about this, and he stopped, now he don't have head ache after practices.

handle it properly. especially if kids are accessible to it.

This is a dangerous habit and directly affects the throat first.
/S/

[xl_target]

While we plink one of my friend has a habit of putting few pellets in mouth and using it one by one for shots, but after couple of hours he had head ache and i warned about this, and he stopped, now he don't have head ache after practices.

handle it properly. especially if kids are accessible to it.

When I was a teenager, we used to do that all time as it was the fastest way to get a new pellet in the gun. It more than likely was not very wise but I never got headaches.