[Unclenick]

I believe most of the lead stays in the primer pocket carbon residue cake and cartridge case and buried in the powder fouling in the bore. I don't know what percentage actually emerges in the smoke, but yes, you can breathe it in. Outdoors it dissipates pretty well, but I wouldn't let small children police brass out in front of the firing line today. When I was a kid we did, but that was before lead toxicity consciousness.

We had a member report awhile back that a friend of his who did lead contamination testing professionally tested his loading bench areas for lead. The friend didn't find unacceptable levels anywhere except around the vibratory tumbler, which vibrates primer residue out of the cases to become dust that gets into the air during media separating. He said that even his bullet casting area didn't test as being excessive, but the floor around the tumbler was bad.