You just had an exciting day at the range! You pack up your gear and head for home. You know that lead exposure was a problem at the range. How can you minimize the exposure that you bring back to your home? There are three (3) simple but effective steps you can take to help keep your home lead free.
Remove Your Shoes
Never walk into your house with the shoes that you were wearing at the range. They will have a significant amount of lead on the bottom. If you walk into your house with them on, you will track lead throughout. It is a good idea to designate a pair of shoes just for the range. At a minimum, any shoes that you wear at the range should be removed prior to entering any portion of your home.
Wash Your Clothes
If you wear your range clothes into your house, you are continuing to spread lead in your home. Every piece of furniture that you sit on will now be contaminated. Every person in your family that touches you will now be exposed to lead. You should have a change of clothes ready in a convenient area like your garage so that you can immediately change and throw your range clothes in the washing machine.
Wash Your Hair
Going to bed without washing your hair is one of the worst things you could do. Remember there are three ways that lead exposure occurs:
Absorption
Inhalation
Ingestion
Failing to wash your hair will allow the lead to absorb into your scalp. Going to bed like this can cause you to leave lead on your pillow. When this happens, you now have a good chance of inhaling, and possibly even ingesting, the lead from your pillowcase.
Learn more about protecting yourself from lead exposure with our FREE online training.