[Unbeliever69]

I grew up in a shooting and hunting family. Whenever we were driving around town my dad would point out a wheel weight on the ground at a stop light/sign and my brother and I would jump out of the Land Cruiser and collect it. This was the 80s of course so we were drinking out of hose bibs, riding our bikes on high-traffic streets without helmets, and playing live Frogger to collect wheel weights. It was a game to my brother and I because wheel weights came in various shapes and sizes so it was fun to see if we could land a whopper. We would also stop by Tire stores and scour the parking lot for them. At some point we would melt the lead down into bars using a crucible. These would be later cast into bullets. My brother and I were also (in hindsight) child slave laborers that were tasked with reloading cartridges and shotgun shells for target shooting and trap/skeet. In our house this was considered a chore. This was our childhood. None of us ever used gloves or masks during any step in this process.

In a recent conversation over breakfast I brought up lead poisoning and my dad was adamant (in his conspiratorial way) about how all of that lead exposure via handling lead and inhaling lead fumes didn't result in any significant health problems for us. I'm assuming he meant that we all weren't dead yet. He's 80 and a wreck. He's had all sorts of health issues include recent cancer remission. I'm 55 and I've had nerve issues since my teenage years which manifests itself as a noticeable tremor in my right hand that has got worse over time. I developed adult onset asthma in my late teens. I have a host of other health conditions as well. Who knows how much of that is tied back to lead exposure.