Hotrod Diesel
Here for the Beer...
Sucks to have to explain that to the boss.
All I could think of are those oh-so-smarmy shotgun snots at the Isaak Walton trap/skeet range with the cutesy little leather fobs on their "golf shoes" for resting the shotgun muzzle. THAT would be a little messier, I'm sure.
My cousin got a BB shot into his hand when he was cleaning a BB gun he thought wasn't loaded. He couldn't get surgery to have it removed since it was so close to his tendons so he still has it in his hand after 5+ years. You can feel it move around a little if you press on it. Lol
When I worked ER in Baltimore several years ago, I was amazed, endlessly, by the number of young urban american youths (aka gangbangers) who would come in still carrying bullets from drive-bys of years gone by. I'd find these in necks, backs, legs, scalps and they'd all say the same thing "the doctor said it won't hurt nothin' to leave 'em be."
Truth. I had a patient come into my clinic one morning, a WW2 vet who had overwintered at Bastogne, with a bullet in a dixie cup. He'd coughed it up that morning. Said he couldn't remember being shot, but had a stitch in his side after one firefight. Looked like an 8mm slug to me. Chest X-Rays looked good, even got him a CT to make sure no scar tissue or anything was there.
He was fine.
lx1x said:how about lead? wouldnt it be bad? if left for long time?
Not really. It doesn't get absorbed well. If a bullet isn't near anything vital, it is best to leave it alone.
Sucks to have to explain that to the boss.
lol because?
Just to clarify, I'm doing this on my phone with the other hand. Can't use a full keyboard.
how about lead? wouldnt it be bad? if left for long time?
Did a quick lit search and segued into some other areas.
Search terms "copper toxicity in humans"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_in_health
Search for "Bullet toxicity"
Lead toxicity in a 14 year old girl with retained bullet FRAGMENTS:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/117/1/227.full
Lead levels in patients with retained bullets (from the preceding article):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11371848?dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10192672?dopt=Abstract
and et cetera.
It's going to be a very tough thing to quantify. A reasonable course of action would be to get a baseline BLL (Blood Lead Level, which should be zero), and, depending upon the amount of lead assumed, retest every couple of years.
Thing about elemental lead is, it is very insoluble in water and many body tissues. A solitary 9mm slug for example, FMJ with exposed bottom would have a very small spot of lead "visible" to the immune system and body chemistry. The exposed surface area would oxidize and create a boundary layer which will/can/usually impede(s) further absorption. Tissue fibroblasts surround most foreign bodies, even of low biological reactivity/immunogenicity, encysting said objects which further limit the material's exposure, etc.
Cases mentioned in most of the online articles (from trauma, medicine, pediatrics, medline.com and elsewhere) make it clear that lead particles in the body MAY lead to toxicity depending on, much like the rules of real estate, location, location, location.
Lead exposure on hands by reloaders doesn't lead directly to elevated BLLs. I've been casting bullets for decades - don't shoot indoors unless it's with FMJ/TMJ slugs - and my last level a couple years back was zero. YMMV.
Gets even MORE interesting when looking at rifle and shotgun ranges and the presence of lead in soil and groundwater/runoff. It's virtually undetectable. Not a problem. But that hasn't stopped the EPA under certain political regimes from fudging the numbers and declaring that since lead is toxic, they're closing one range or another. But that's another topic for another area of the board, I'm sure.
Did a quick lit search and segued into some other areas.
Search terms "copper toxicity in humans"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_in_health
Search for "Bullet toxicity"
Lead toxicity in a 14 year old girl with retained bullet FRAGMENTS:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/117/1/227.full
Lead levels in patients with retained bullets (from the preceding article):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11371848?dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10192672?dopt=Abstract
and et cetera.
It's going to be a very tough thing to quantify. A reasonable course of action would be to get a baseline BLL (Blood Lead Level, which should be zero), and, depending upon the amount of lead assumed, retest every couple of years.
Thing about elemental lead is, it is very insoluble in water and many body tissues. A solitary 9mm slug for example, FMJ with exposed bottom would have a very small spot of lead "visible" to the immune system and body chemistry. The exposed surface area would oxidize and create a boundary layer which will/can/usually impede(s) further absorption. Tissue fibroblasts surround most foreign bodies, even of low biological reactivity/immunogenicity, encysting said objects which further limit the material's exposure, etc.
Cases mentioned in most of the online articles (from trauma, medicine, pediatrics, medline.com and elsewhere) make it clear that lead particles in the body MAY lead to toxicity depending on, much like the rules of real estate, location, location, location.
Lead exposure on hands by reloaders doesn't lead directly to elevated BLLs. I've been casting bullets for decades - don't shoot indoors unless it's with FMJ/TMJ slugs - and my last level a couple years back was zero. YMMV.
Gets even MORE interesting when looking at rifle and shotgun ranges and the presence of lead in soil and groundwater/runoff. It's virtually undetectable. Not a problem. But that hasn't stopped the EPA under certain political regimes from fudging the numbers and declaring that since lead is toxic, they're closing one range or another. But that's another topic for another area of the board, I'm sure.
He chipped it. The claim was to cut it in HALF. Fail.
Truth. I had a patient come into my clinic one morning, a WW2 vet who had overwintered at Bastogne, with a bullet in a dixie cup. He'd coughed it up that morning. Said he couldn't remember being shot, but had a stitch in his side after one firefight. Looked like an 8mm slug to me. Chest X-Rays looked good, even got him a CT to make sure no scar tissue or anything was there.
He was fine.
I impaled my hand with a lead pencil when I was a kid....you can still see the lead under my skin almost 20 years later. Am I gonna die?
i got dibs on your firearms.. better start digging your grave..