Disposing of lead-contaminated medium

KenS · Nov 1, 2019

Nearly ready to make move into reloading.

Last hurdle is handling lead-contaminated case cleaning media, whether dry or wet. Ultrasonic seems the safest and least cumbersome process, but safe disposal of contaminated solution is the issue.

What are your best practices?

Caeb75 · Nov 1, 2019

You're overthinking this. Most of what you're cleaning is powder residue and oxidation. The amount of lead is trace at best. Most lead issues from reloading come from handling bullets and shooting. Even if there is lead vaporization at firing it is pushed out of the cases by the burning powder.

LGood48 · Nov 1, 2019

Caeb75 said:
You're overthinking this. Most of what you're cleaning is powder residue and oxidation. The amount of lead is trace at best. Most lead issues from reloading come from handling bullets and shooting. Even if there is lead vaporization at firing it is pushed out of the cases by the burning powder.

Dry media goes in the trash and wet gets dumped in the small decorative garden by the driveway!

KenS · Nov 1, 2019

You may be right; however I want to be sure, given statements about lead in primer pocket residues and from bullet.

Seems to be accepted that dust from dry media as well as used media are contaminated with lead.

Is there any scientific data available, or are beliefs based on hearsay, wishful thinking, best guess, etc.

Don't want to contaminate ground, air, water.

K31 · Nov 1, 2019

Were all going to be dead from global warming in 10 years anyway. Ask AOC.

ToolAA · Nov 1, 2019

For my ultrasonic cleaner Reuse the fluid many many times without issue. I get a sort of grey sludge that settles at the bottom of the container. When I pour the fluid back in the tank I just stop short if letting the sludge go back in and then I top it off with fresh fluid. I think I’ve cleaned over 600 cases with a 2 pint container and could probably go 600 more.

Now when I’m done with the fluid I haven’t really thought that far ahead but I could easily take it to the hazmat recycling facility at the landfill.

Now I never really thought about the used primers before. Those have been going in the trash. I’m just wondering why do they have lead in them? Is it part of the propellent?

One thing I have been thinking about doing is getting a blood test for lead. Just because I would like to know what my exposure levels are currently.

letmeoutpax · Nov 1, 2019

I would think cleaning the barrel is worse.

Uncle Duke · Nov 1, 2019

ToolAA said:
For my ultrasonic cleaner Reuse the fluid many many times without issue. I get a sort of grey sludge that settles at the bottom of the container. When I pour the fluid back in the tank I just stop short if letting the sludge go back in and then I top it off with fresh fluid. I think I’ve cleaned over 600 cases with a 2 pint container and could probably go 600 more.

Now when I’m done with the fluid I haven’t really thought that far ahead but I could easily take it to the hazmat recycling facility at the landfill.

Now I never really thought about the used primers before. Those have been going in the trash. I’m just wondering why do they have lead in them? Is it part of the propellent?

One thing I have been thinking about doing is getting a blood test for lead. Just because I would like to know what my exposure levels are currently.

Lead styphnate. It is a component part of the priming compound.

There has been some effort in recent years to switch away from lead containing primers. The small primers you see in some examples of 45acp from Winchester and CCI/Speer are lead free. Federal is supposedly experimenting with a lead free primer as well.

The only company that I have heard of that makes lead free primers available to handloaders is Fiocci. I have no personal experience with them. They are expensive, for one thing.

What I have been doing with my spent primers is dumping them into a bucket. It is remarkable what spent primers weigh. Not for environmental reasons, so much as I just do it out of convenience. But having now accumulated some significant number of pounds of them, I am hoping that they will prove to have some scrap value. I have sold scrap brass, but never spent primers.

I'd be curious to know if anyone knows whether or not scrap primers have any value. If so, I'll take the bucket with the next lot of scrap brass to the recycler.

ToolAA · Nov 1, 2019

Uncle Duke said:
Lead styphnate. It is a component part of the priming compound.

There has been some effort in recent years to switch away from lead containing primers. The small primers you see in some examples of 45acp from Winchester and CCI/Speer are lead free. Federal is supposedly experimenting with a lead free primer as well.

The only company that I have heard of that makes lead free primers available to handloaders is Fiocci. I have no personal experience with them. They are expensive, for one thing.

What I have been doing with my spent primers is dumping them into a bucket. It is remarkable what spent primers weigh. Not for environmental reasons, so much as I just do it out of convenience. But having now accumulated some significant number of pounds of them, I am hoping that they will prove to have some scrap value. I have sold scrap brass, but never spent primers.

I'd be curious to know if anyone knows whether or not scrap primers have any value. If so, I'll take the bucket with the next lot of scrap brass to the recycler.

Thanks UD. I lernt sumtin.

Uncle Duke · Nov 1, 2019

ToolAA said:
Thanks UD. I lernt sumtin.

My pleasure sir!

Biggfoot44 · Nov 1, 2019

"Most" lead free commercial ammo uses regular primers in conjunction with non- lead, or fully encapsulated projectiles . There is such thing as Totally Lead Free ammo, by is mainly used by LE Agencies with legacy indoor ranges with very deficient ventilation , not feasibly upgraded . Such ammo is euphemistically said to provide additional training benefits , by providing more opportunities for malfunction drills .(ie totally non-toxic primers are at best 95-99% reliable .

teratos · Nov 1, 2019

I’ll take “things I’m overthinking” for $400, Alex.

ToolAA · Nov 1, 2019

teratos said:
I’ll take “things I’m overthinking” for $400, Alex.

We’ve just about exausted all things Motor Oil....come on cut us some slack.

Bolts Rock · Nov 1, 2019

Caeb75 said:
You're overthinking this. Most of what you're cleaning is powder residue and oxidation. The amount of lead is trace at best. Most lead issues from reloading come from handling bullets and shooting. Even if there is lead vaporization at firing it is pushed out of the cases by the burning powder.

Incorrect. Elemental lead such as that in bullets must literally be eaten or otherwise ingested to be a problem, it is not skin absorbable nor an inhalant danger. Simply washing your hands well after handling takes care of the problem. With guns and ammo the greatest danger is the primer residue and the two lead salts used in primers; lead styphnate and lead azide. Both of those salts are skin absorbable and inhalant dangers with primer smoke (the biggest lead danger of indoor ranges).

For the OP- when I worked at NASA I used some of the lead test kits we used at solder stations and tested around a dry tumbler, the lead contamination radius is 5 to 8 feet depending on how the dust settles when you open and empty it. The best thing you can do is wear nitrile gloves when cleaning your guns and cleaning cases. I wet tumble and only use the dry tumbler for polishing after the cases are cleaned and dried. I have a decorative gravel bed where only moss would grow and dump my wet tumbler there. I don't worry about the dry media since there should be no lead by that point. Patches and other cleaning waste just goes in the trash.

WatTyler · Nov 2, 2019

Considering the quantity of lead that isn't being precipitated out on the ground through the elimination of leaded gasoline, I think any amount added by used medium might be ... maybe 3%?

dist1646 · Nov 2, 2019

Ask first, where does lead come from to begin with.

K31 · Nov 2, 2019

Get one of those water pitchers that promises to remove lead. Pour the sludge down it and throw away the filter.

ToolAA · Nov 2, 2019

K31 said:
Get one of those water pitchers that promises to remove lead. Pour the sludge down it and throw away the filter.

Or just move to Flint Michigan and pour the sludge straight down the drain.

rob · Nov 3, 2019

I agree with the others who say you are overthinking this.

Unless you are planning on making pacifiers out of scrap lead or forcing a small child to work reloading ammo 16 hours a day like he's in a chinese sweatshop, the toxicity of the work area and the waste you are generating isn't going to amount to a hill of beans.

Rob.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

Biggfoot44 · Nov 3, 2019

Bullet Casting you need to be on your P&Qs , tumbling fired cases , not so much .

Disposing of lead-contaminated medium

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