Got Lead?

Ever since frontiersmen in Pennsylvania began "shooting at the mark" in the early 1700s, shooting ranges have been recreational sites for Americans. They are the place hunters have drifted to as the government closes more grounds and hunting animals goes out of vogue. Increasingly, the gun industry also depends on them for its survival.

But what Americans don’t know is that the U.S.'s 4,000 shooting ranges are contaminated. According to a recent report issued by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Violence Policy Center (VPC), ranges cause pollution and harm human beings. The EWG/VPC report, "Poisonous Pastime," highlights the dangers caused by high levels of lead at indoor and outdoor shooting ranges nationwide. It reports that prolonged contact with areas infested with lead can poison not only the users of shooting ranges but also their families. Furthermore, the total amount of lead released into the environment from shooting ranges is one the largest industrial sources of lead pollution in the U.S.

How does it happen?

Lead poisoning at indoor ranges comes mostly from inhaling lead particles present in the air. These particles emit at different stages in the shooting process: from the ignition of the primer (the part of the bullet that is struck by the firing pin), which contains lead styphnate; from lead particles scraped off the bullet as it runs through the gun barrel; and from lead dust created when the bullet strikes a target or backstop.

Casting of one's own bullets is also a source of lead poisoning in indoor and outdoor shooting ranges. This is a common process among gun users that involves pouring molten lead into molds of different sizes to create the caliber bullet desired. The melting of lead can create fumes that remain in the air for hours, which in turn can be inhaled by humans and contaminate immediate surfaces. In "Poisonous Pastime," the director of a New Hampshire occupational health center attests that some of the worst cases of lead poisoning occur among individuals who make their own bullets.

Who is at risk?

Obviously, the people most at risk are those who spend lots of time at shooting ranges. High levels of lead poisoning have been found in firearm instructors, range employees and frequent shooters, all of whom are exposed to lead continuously, either by fumes and airborne particles or through direct contact during firearm cleaning, range and target cleaning and bullet casting.

Although most symptoms of lead poisoning can be detected only over long periods of time, lead exposure at shooting ranges can be so severe, according to several reported cases sited in the study, that people can suffer consequences in days or months. A police firearms instructor died in his sleep of respiratory failure after five days of intense lead exposure during a training course. In an indoor range in Baltimore, a 17-year-old part-time maintenance worker fell ill after only one month’s employment.

The families of shooters and range employees are also at risk. Because lead dust settles on essentially everything that is brought home from the firing range (shoes, clothes, bags, firearms, lunch boxes, etc.), range users and employees can pollute their own households. In "Poisonous Pastime," a New Hampshire police captain warns, "If you take your clothing home, you actually contaminate the family clothing when you wash it together."

People living or working in the vicinity of indoor ranges' ventilation systems are also at risk. In Clearwater, Florida, for example, a day care center was shut down after it was discovered the ventilation systems of the adjacent shooting range were releasing exhaust onto the center’s playground. Later, the lead levels outside the fan were found to be 8,000 times higher than what the county’s Department of Environmental Management has determined acceptable.