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Lead Exposure at Shooting Ranges

You’re Bringing Lead Home From the Range — And Most NY Shooters Have No Idea

Every trigger pull fires a microscopic puff of vaporized lead. In New York’s underground indoor ranges, there’s nowhere for it to go. Here’s what’s really happening — and how to protect yourself, your family, and your long-term health.

By Peter Ticali — NRA Chief Range Safety Officer & Multi-Discipline Certified Firearms Instructor
NY Safe Inc. | February 24, 2026

NRA certifications: Pistol · Rifle · Shotgun · CCW · Muzzleloader | USCCA: CCHDF · Active Shooter Response · First Aid · Children’s Firearms Safety | AHA BLS Instructor | FBI & Suffolk County PD Citizens Academy Graduate | NY Pistol License holder since 1992

The quick version: Every time you pull the trigger at an indoor range, a microscopic puff of lead — originating from the primer in your ammunition — enters the air around you, settles on your hands, your face, your clothes, and your hair. You inhale some of it. Some absorbs through your skin. Some rides home with you in your car and on your jacket. Over time, this adds up — and the health consequences are serious, well-documented, and entirely preventable. This article tells you exactly what’s happening, why New York’s underground ranges make it worse, and what you can do about it before, during, and after every range session.

50%
of inhaled lead particles absorbed directly into bloodstream

35%
of a standard primer is lead styphnate — vaporizes at 1,000°C

0
Safe level of lead in the human body, per CDC

5 µg/dL
NIOSH elevated threshold — many indoor shooters exceed this

📋 What’s In This Article

Why outdoor ranges are always safer
The New York problem: when law drives you underground
Inside the round: the chemistry of lead exposure
The health consequences — what lead actually does to your body
Warning signs: how do you know if you’ve been affected?
The three heavy metal hazards in primer smoke
The hidden exposure most shooters miss: cleaning your gun
Complete before-during-after protection protocol
Blood test guide: thresholds, what they mean, what doctors do
Printable range safety checklist
Frequently asked questions

I’ve been carrying a New York pistol license since 1992. In that time, I’ve stood on the firing line at more indoor ranges than I can count — and for most of that journey, like most shooters, I never gave lead a second thought. It was just part of the deal. You shoot, you smell the gunpowder, you pick up your brass, you go home.

What nobody told me — and what most shooters still don’t fully understand — is that “going home” is precisely the problem. Because you don’t go home alone. Lead comes with you.

This isn’t a scare piece. I’m a Second Amendment advocate to my core, and nothing in this article changes the fact that responsible firearm ownership and training are essential. But responsible means informed. And on the subject of lead exposure, far too many good, dedicated shooters are operating in the dark.

Let’s fix that.

Why Outdoor Ranges Are Always the Healthier Option

Here’s a truth that every firearms instructor knows but rarely says out loud: outdoor ranges are significantly safer from a lead exposure standpoint than indoor ranges — full stop.

When you fire outdoors, the physics work in your favor. Wind disperses airborne particles. Open space dilutes concentration. The primer cloud that erupts from the muzzle and action has room to dissipate before you’re breathing it. There’s no ceiling for lead to settle from. The natural environment acts as an enormous ventilation system that no engineered indoor system can truly replicate.

A landmark peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Health journal found that even with ventilation systems running, indoor firing ranges frequently fail to maintain air lead levels below OSHA’s permissible exposure limit — and dramatically fail California’s more protective standard. The researchers concluded that there is a documented gap showing that indoor ventilation systems cannot reliably achieve these benchmarks. That’s not a minor technical footnote. That’s a fundamental challenge baked into the indoor range environment.

Outdoor shooting is better. If you have the option, use it. Your blood lead levels will thank you.

The New York Problem: When the Law Drives You Underground

Outdoor ranges in densely populated areas are rare. Zoning laws, noise ordinances, and proximity to residential neighborhoods have pushed most public shooting facilities indoors. If you’re training for your New York concealed carry permit, chances are overwhelming that your qualification shooting happens inside four walls.

But in Suffolk County — and several other downstate jurisdictions — local codes require that shooting ranges be constructed underground. Not just enclosed — underground. Below grade. The reasoning is sound from a noise and safety standpoint. The ventilation challenge it creates, however, is real. Underground construction limits natural airflow options. Engineers must design forced-air systems to move contaminated air away from shooters. NIOSH and OSHA require that indoor range ventilation move air from behind the shooter, across the firing line, down the range, and out through filtration. Getting that right underground takes serious investment and ongoing maintenance.

What good range ventilation looks like: You should be able to feel a gentle but consistent airflow moving from behind your shooting position toward the target. The air moves away from your face and body, pushing the primer cloud downrange. If air seems to be blowing into your face from the target direction, that ventilation system is either poorly designed or malfunctioning. Ask management. If nothing changes, consider finding another facility.

Inside the Round: The Chemistry of Lead Exposure

The story starts in the primer. Traditional primers are composed of approximately 35% lead styphnate and lead peroxide, combined with barium nitrate, antimony sulfide, and other compounds. When your firing pin strikes the primer cup, it ignites this mixture at temperatures up to 1,000°C and generates pressures exceeding 20,000 pounds per square inch.

At those temperatures, lead isn’t just burning — it’s vaporizing. The resulting gas cloud contains ultrafine lead particles in the 1–10 micron range. These particles are small enough to remain airborne for extended periods, float several feet laterally from the barrel (including directly toward your face), and penetrate deeply into lung tissue when inhaled.

“Lead particles, along with dust and fumes originating from the lead primer and the bullet fragments, are ejected at high pressures from the gun barrel — a large proportion of which occurs at right angles to the direction of fire, in close proximity to the shooter.”
— Environmental Health Journal, Laidlaw et al., 2017

Beyond inhalation, lead also settles on your hands, face, neck, and hair as you shoot; contaminates surfaces you touch — the bench, dividers, door handles, your phone; and deposits on your clothing, which you then bring into your home. The scientific literature is unambiguous on one particularly alarming point: approximately 50% of inhaled lead is absorbed directly into the bloodstream — far higher than the 10–20% absorption rate through ingestion.

The Health Consequences Are Not Theoretical

Lead is a heavy metal with no beneficial biological role in the human body. The CDC’s current reference blood lead level for adults is just 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) — a threshold that was 10 µg/dL a decade ago and 40 µg/dL in the 1970s. There is currently no established “safe” level of lead in human blood.

The U.S. National Toxicology Program linked elevated blood lead levels to: impaired memory and cognition, peripheral neuropathy, hypertension and increased cardiovascular risk, reduced kidney filtration capacity, reduced sperm count and fertility disruption in men, menstrual disruption and miscarriage risk in women, and behavioral and mood disorders.

⚠️ Special Warning for Women Who Shoot: If you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or nursing, indoor range exposure deserves serious attention. Lead mobilized from bone during pregnancy crosses the placenta. Prenatal lead exposure at even low levels is associated with permanent developmental harm to the fetus. Discuss your exposure history with your OB-GYN. Consider blood lead level testing before conception if you’ve been a regular indoor shooter.

Warning Signs: How Do You Know If You’ve Been Affected?

Lead poisoning in adults does not announce itself dramatically. It creeps in slowly, wearing masks that look exactly like stress, aging, and overwork. The early symptoms are maddeningly nonspecific.

Early warning signs (often dismissed or misattributed):

⚠️ Persistent fatigue and low energy	⚠️ Headaches — especially after range sessions
⚠️ Metallic taste in the mouth	⚠️ Irritability and mood changes
⚠️ Sleep problems / insomnia	⚠️ Poor appetite or weight loss
⚠️ Difficulty concentrating or remembering	⚠️ Stomach discomfort or nausea
⚠️ Mild memory lapses	⚠️ Tingling or numbness in hands/feet

Later-stage symptoms (indicating more significant accumulation):

⚠️ Muscle and joint pain	⚠️ Weakness in wrists or ankles
⚠️ High blood pressure (often unattributed)	⚠️ Kidney problems
⚠️ Constipation	⚠️ Anemia
⚠️ Reproductive difficulties	⚠️ Memory problems and cognitive slowing
⚠️ Fine hand tremors	⚠️ Depression or anxiety

The metallic taste is a genuine red flag. If you notice a metallic or bitter taste during or immediately after a range session — particularly indoors — that is a direct indicator of significant airborne lead exposure. Your body is detecting lead compounds in inhaled air reaching your mouth and throat. Don’t wave it off. Report it to range management, choose a different facility, and request a blood lead test from your physician.

Most people with elevated blood lead levels have no obvious symptoms at all. A BLL of 8, 10, or even 15 µg/dL may produce zero symptoms — while quietly doing measurable damage to your cardiovascular system, kidneys, and neurological function. A blood test is the only way to know.

📤 Know a fellow shooter who should read this?
Share this article with your range partners, your firearms instructor, your shooting club, or any gun owner in your life. Most of us in the shooting community learned these habits late — or never. Pass it on.

Know What You’re Really Dealing With: The Three Heavy Metal Hazards in Primer Smoke

Lead (Pb) — The dominant concern. Present in both primer compound and bullet material. Fine airborne particles from primers are the most dangerous because of their small size and bioavailability.

Barium (Ba) — Barium nitrate serves as an oxidizer in primer compounds. Barium exposure at high levels affects the nervous system, cardiovascular system, and muscles.

Antimony (Sb) — Antimony sulfide is another standard primer ingredient, serving as a fuel. Antimony is a toxic metalloid with effects similar to arsenic, recognized as a potential human carcinogen.

The Hidden Lead Exposure Most Shooters Never Think About: Cleaning Your Firearm

The range isn’t the only place you accumulate lead. When you run a patch or brush through the bore during cleaning, you are physically redistributing lead deposits — onto the patch, onto your fingers, into the air in your cleaning area, and onto any surface your hands subsequently touch. If you’re cleaning at the kitchen table, that includes where your family eats.

⚠️ The Solvent Problem — Something Almost Nobody Talks About

Gun cleaning solvents — Hoppe’s No. 9, CLP, Break-Free — work partly by defatting skin, dissolving natural protective oils. That’s what makes them effective at cutting lead fouling. But skin defatted by solvent has significantly increased permeability. The result: if you clean your firearm without gloves, you are simultaneously applying a lead-contaminated compound to your skin and creating conditions that maximize absorption. Baltimore County PD’s occupational health guidance for firearms officers specifically identified this mechanism.

The fix is dead simple: wear nitrile gloves every single time you clean your firearm. No exceptions.

How to Protect Yourself: A Complete Before-During-After Protocol

Before You Shoot

Consider your ammunition choices. Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) and Total Synthetic Jacket (TSJ) bullets encase the entire lead core, significantly reducing lead release compared to standard FMJ bullets, which leave the lead base exposed. For primers, Federal’s Catalyst® primer — used in their American Eagle Syntech® and BallistiClean® lines — is a well-tested lead-free option. Also: eat before you go. An empty stomach absorbs ingested lead far more efficiently than a full one.

While You Shoot

Don’t touch your face. Don’t eat, drink, or smoke in the range building. Don’t rest your forearms or hands flat on contaminated bench surfaces. Consider disposable nitrile gloves while shooting — they keep lead off your hands entirely and can simply be peeled off before you leave the line.

After You Shoot: The Decontamination Protocol

Regular soap and water does not effectively remove lead from skin. Lead particles bind to skin in ways that ordinary surfactants don’t adequately overcome. You can wash with regular soap, feel clean, and still have measurable lead on your hands.

What you need is a chelating agent — a compound that chemically bonds to heavy metal ions and allows them to be rinsed away. The two products with the strongest evidence base are:

D-Lead® Hand Soap (ESCA Tech, Inc.) — An abrasive formula combining a chelating agent with glycerin for skin protection. Available in liquid soap and pre-moistened wipes. Formerly issued to firearms instructors at multiple federal agencies.

Hygenall LeadOff® — Developed in partnership with NIOSH research. Available in foaming soap and wipes. Both products are widely available on Amazon and at major shooting supply retailers for less than a box of ammunition.

⚠️ Stop Reaching for the Hand Sanitizer — It Makes Things Worse

This is one of the most common and well-intentioned mistakes shooters make. Alcohol in hand sanitizers rapidly desiccates the outermost layer of your skin. As the alcohol evaporates, your skin begins its recovery response — attempting to rehydrate by drawing moisture inward through the pores. That rehydration response is indiscriminate. If lead is on your hands and your skin is in active rehydration mode, you are essentially creating a physiological drive to pull those particles in rather than rinse them away. Regular hand sanitizer also contains no chelating agent, so it has zero chemical ability to bind lead particles. It is not a substitute for proper decontamination. Keep D-Lead wipes or Hygenall wipes in your range bag for exactly this situation.

✅ The Cold Water Rule

Always use cold or cool water when washing up after shooting — never hot. Hot water causes your pores to dilate, which can drive fine lead particles deeper into the skin rather than rinsing them away. Cold water keeps your pores contracted, helping the chelating soap do its work on the surface.

The full protocol: At the range — wipe hands and face with D-Lead or Hygenall wipes immediately after shooting. At the sink — wash with chelating soap and cold water. In the car — keep wipes in the console for a second pass before touching the steering wheel. At home — shower and shampoo before interacting closely with children or partners. Bag range clothes separately and wash them alone.

Ammunition Comparison: Making Smarter Choices at the Counter

Ammunition Type	Lead Primer?	Lead Exposure Risk	Best Use
Standard FMJ	Yes	Higher	Budget practice; not ideal for frequent indoor use
TMJ (Total Metal Jacket)	Usually yes	Moderate — enclosed bullet helps; primer still a factor	Better choice for indoor range practice
Frangible (copper/tin)	Often lead-free	Lower	Ideal for high-volume indoor training; steel targets
Lead-Free (Syntech / BallistiClean)	No (Catalyst® primer)	Lowest	Best for frequent indoor use; not recommended for defensive carry

Get Tested: The Blood Tests Every Regular Shooter Should Request

If you shoot indoors more than a few times per month — or if you’ve been doing so for years — it’s time for a conversation with your physician. Request these two tests at your next annual physical:

Blood Lead Level (BLL): A standard venous blood draw measuring lead concentration in µg/dL. This reflects recent and ongoing exposure — a current snapshot of what’s circulating in your system.

Zinc Protoporphyrin (ZPP): This measures a metabolic byproduct of lead’s interference with normal red blood cell production. Unlike BLL, ZPP reflects longer-term cumulative exposure in soft tissue and organs — not just this week’s circulating level. Occupational health physicians routinely order both together because they tell a complementary story.

What the Numbers Mean: Plain-English BLL Thresholds

BLL Result	What It Means	What You and Your Doctor Should Do
Below 0.855 µg/dL	Typical for the average American adult with no known lead source	Continue current habits. Retest annually.
0.855 – 3.4 µg/dL	Above average background; some exposure but below concern threshold	Review range hygiene. No medical intervention. Continue annual testing.
3.5 – 4.9 µg/dL	Above 97.5th percentile of American adults (CSTE reference). Meaningful exposure. Pregnant women: discuss with OB-GYN immediately.	Tighten decontamination protocol. Review ammo choices. Retest every 3 months.
5 – 9 µg/dL	NIOSH official “elevated” threshold. Linked to increased blood pressure and essential tremor. Where many frequent indoor shooters without good hygiene land.	Improve decontamination immediately. Switch to cleaner ammo. Reduce indoor range frequency. Retest every 2–3 months.
10 – 19 µg/dL	NTP documents elevated blood pressure and cognitive effects at this range. Warrants genuine medical attention.	Retest every 2 months (ACOEM). Serious reduction or temporary suspension of indoor range activity. Cardiovascular monitoring.
20 – 29 µg/dL	Clinically significant. ACOEM recommends medical removal from occupational lead exposure at this level.	Strongly consider stopping indoor range activity. Occupational medicine referral. Renal function and neurological assessment.
30 µg/dL and above	ACOEM, CDPH, and AOEC all recommend immediate removal from all lead-exposed environments.	Stop all range activity. Occupational medicine referral mandatory. Full health assessment. Chelation therapy evaluation.

The honest bottom line on numbers: Most recreational shooters who practice good decontamination habits will land somewhere in the 0–5 µg/dL range. That’s the goal. Getting a baseline test when you’re healthy and maintaining good habits is how you stay in that range and catch any drift upward early. Think of it like cholesterol monitoring — you don’t panic at a number, you track the trend.

How to Ask Your Doctor for This Test

Many primary care physicians haven’t ordered a blood lead panel in years — it’s not part of a standard adult wellness screen. The conversation is simple: “I’m a regular shooter and I train at indoor ranges. I’d like to add a blood lead level test and zinc protoporphyrin to my annual labs as a baseline.” Any physician can order both tests through standard clinical labs. If you want deeper expertise, ask for a referral to an occupational medicine clinic.

Train Smart. Stay Safe. Stay Healthy.

NY Safe Inc. is committed to the full picture of responsible firearm ownership — including the health realities that the range community doesn’t always talk about.

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A Note From a Range Safety Officer Who’s Been on Both Sides of This

As an NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, I’ve spent thousands of hours on firing lines — as a student, as an instructor, and as the person responsible for everyone else’s safety. For the first decade or more of that experience, lead hygiene was an afterthought, not a practice.

The occupational health literature changed my thinking completely. Not because it’s alarmist — but because it’s honest, data-driven, and actionable. The risks are real. The mitigations are simple and inexpensive. And once you understand the mechanism, you realize that awareness costs you nothing and ignorance could cost you quite a bit.

Keep your D-Lead in the range bag. Keep your wipes in the console. Shower before you hug your kids. And if you haven’t had a BLL test in a while, talk to your doctor. The Second Amendment community takes care of its own — and that includes your health.

🖨️ Range Lead Safety Checklist — Print & Keep in Your Range Bag

Before every session, confirm these habits. It takes 30 seconds.

BEFORE SHOOTING

☐ Ate a meal before heading to the range
☐ D-Lead soap or Hygenall wipes packed in range bag
☐ Nitrile gloves packed — for shooting AND for gun cleaning
☐ Considered TMJ, TSJ, frangible, or lead-free primer ammo for today’s practice
☐ Sealed bag packed for range clothes

AT THE RANGE

☐ Confirmed airflow moves AWAY from face toward target
☐ Not touching face, eating, drinking, or smoking in the range building
☐ Hands not resting on contaminated bench surfaces between strings
☐ Spacing out strings slightly to let the primer cloud disperse
☐ Mentioned any metallic taste or poor airflow to range staff

LEAVING THE RANGE

☐ Wiped hands and face with D-Lead or Hygenall wipes before leaving
☐ Washed with chelating soap + COLD water at range sink
☐ Did NOT use hand sanitizer (alcohol opens pores, increases absorption)
☐ Changed into clean clothes before getting in vehicle
☐ Range clothes in sealed bag; washed separately from family laundry
☐ Ran empty rinse cycle before next normal laundry load
☐ Showered and shampooed before close contact with children or partner

ANNUAL HEALTH

☐ Asked doctor for blood lead level (BLL) test at annual physical
☐ Asked doctor for zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) test — measures long-term accumulation
☐ Know my current BLL number and what it means

NY Safe Inc. | nysafeinc.com | Lead Safety Checklist — Free to copy and share

Questions About Safe Training in New York?

We talk about this stuff in our courses — because responsible firearm ownership means knowing everything that comes with it, not just the legal parts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is lead exposure at indoor shooting ranges actually dangerous?

Yes. Research published in Environmental Health journal found elevated blood lead levels in shooters using both indoor and outdoor ranges. Indoor ranges are significantly more hazardous due to limited air movement. The CDC’s reference blood lead level for adults is 5 µg/dL — a threshold many frequent indoor range shooters exceed without knowing it.

Why are indoor shooting ranges more dangerous for lead exposure than outdoor ranges?

When you fire a round indoors, the lead particulate from the primer has nowhere to go — it circulates in the enclosed space. Outdoor ranges allow wind and open air to disperse airborne lead. In New York, particularly in Suffolk County, many ranges are required by code to be constructed underground, making ventilation engineering critical — and imperfect.

What soap removes lead from hands after shooting?

Regular soap and water is NOT effective at removing lead. You need a chelating agent. The two most recommended products are D-Lead Hand Soap (ESCA Tech) and Hygenall LeadOff. Always use cold water — not hot — because warm water opens your pores and can drive lead particles deeper into the skin.

How do you wash lead-contaminated range clothes?

Change out of your range clothes before leaving or immediately upon arriving home. Bag them separately. Wash them alone — not with the rest of your family’s laundry. Run a full rinse cycle before doing your next normal load.

What are the health effects of lead exposure from shooting?

The U.S. National Toxicology Program has linked elevated blood lead levels to neurological damage, cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, and fertility problems in both men and women. In women of childbearing age, lead stored in bones can be released during pregnancy and harm a developing fetus. Children are especially vulnerable to even low-level lead exposure.

Should I get a blood lead level test if I shoot regularly?

Yes — at your annual physical. Ask your doctor for both a blood lead level (BLL) test and a Zinc Protoporphyrin (ZPP) test. Just say: “I train at indoor ranges and want a blood lead baseline.” Any primary care physician can order both tests. BLL measures current exposure; ZPP reveals longer-term accumulation.

What blood lead level is acceptable and what does a doctor do at each level?

The typical American adult has a BLL around 0.855 µg/dL. NIOSH’s elevated threshold is 5 µg/dL. At 5–9 µg/dL, improve hygiene and retest every 2–3 months. At 10–19 µg/dL, retest every 2 months and assess cardiovascular health. At 20–29 µg/dL, reduce or stop lead exposure. At 30+ µg/dL, occupational guidelines call for immediate removal from all lead exposure and possible chelation therapy evaluation.

Can I use hand sanitizer to remove lead from my hands after shooting?

No — and it may make things worse. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers dry out the skin, triggering a rehydration response where your pores attempt to draw moisture inward — potentially driving lead particles deeper. Sanitizer also contains no chelating agent. Use D-Lead or Hygenall wipes instead.

What are the early symptoms of lead poisoning from shooting ranges?

Early symptoms include persistent fatigue, headaches (especially after indoor sessions), metallic taste in the mouth, irritability, difficulty concentrating, sleep problems, and mild stomach discomfort. A metallic taste during or right after shooting is a specific warning sign. Critically, many people with elevated blood lead levels have no symptoms at all — a blood test is the only reliable way to know.

Is cleaning your gun at home a lead exposure risk?

Yes — and it’s one most shooters never consider. Lead deposits from firing accumulate inside the barrel and action. Cleaning redistributes those deposits onto your hands and work area. Gun solvents compound the problem by defatting skin, increasing lead absorption. Always wear nitrile gloves when cleaning, work in a ventilated area, dispose of used patches in a sealed bag, and wash with chelating soap afterward.

External Resources

About the Author: Peter Ticali is the founder and lead instructor of NY Safe Inc., a New York-based firearms training and Second Amendment advocacy organization. He holds NRA Endowment Life Member status, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer designation, and instructor certifications across pistol, rifle, shotgun, CCW, and muzzleloader disciplines. He is also certified by USCCA in CCHDF, active shooter response, first aid, and children’s firearms safety, and holds AHA BLS instructor certification. A graduate of both the FBI Citizens Academy and Suffolk County PD Citizens Academy, Peter has held a New York State pistol license since 1992.NY Safe Inc. provides concealed carry training, multi-state permit qualification, and firearms safety education for New Yorkers. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your training needs.

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