[FlyFish]

Thankfully, my lead levels weren't high enough to need chelation therapy, which I understand is quite unpleasant. After one of the guys on my pistol team happened to have his lead tested and it came back very high (as I recall, about 60 mcg/dl) I decided to have mine tested at my next physical and it was elevated to about 31 mcg/dl. As you may know, the currently accepted maximum for adults is 10 mcg/dl, down from the older guideline of 20 mcg/dl.

My level was high enough (over 20 or 25, can't remember which) so that my doctor was required by law to report it to the state (at the time, it was Massachusetts) health department, who sent me a nice letter explaining my rights with regard to occupational exposure, which of course wasn't my particular problem. I started wearing the respirator while shooting, and became a bit more careful about washing my hands after shooting or reloading, but otherwise made no changes in my day-to-day activities. In a year my serum lead was down to the mid-20s, and two years after that I was down to 7.9 mcg/dl.

As the scientific literature, which I've done some reading in, and my own experience shows, lead will eventually leave the body if you remove the source of exposure, but it's a slow process. Much better not to get exposed in the first place.