Soft weights and lead dust

[StSomewhere]

Last fall I bought a number of Sea Pearl soft lead weight pouches. I used them up until about December, then rinsed them and put them away. Last night when I pulled them out there was all this really fine lead dust around the weights. So I rinsed them again and what looked like a bunch more lead dust rinsed out of them. Is this normal? I have small kids, and I really don't need to have my own personal superfund site in my garage! :11:

I'm thinking I should just get rid of them and either to back to the hard weights or buy the soft weights that come sealed in neoprene pouches, like Sea Soft or ??? Thoughts, suggestions, ideas? :06:

 

[akscubainst]

It's probably just Oxide from sitting just sweep it up and throw it away. I don't think it's going to hurt anything. Put them on your waist, submerge them for about an hour and they will be happy again.

My kids are growing up in a dive shop and lead poisoning is the least of my worries for them.

You should wash your hands after handling lead though.

Dave

 

[Bob3]

Yah, that's one of the problems with soft weights, they leach lead oxide, etc. It's enough to throw off water & mud sampling results.
ScubaPro makes a sealed soft weight, but I don't know if they're available in the US.
I'm fond of the bullet weights myself & don't really care for the integrated weights, my back is shot enough without making things heavier.

 

[Leadking]

Last fall I bought a number of Sea Pearl soft lead weight pouches. I used them up until about December, then rinsed them and put them away. Last night when I pulled them out there was all this really fine lead dust around the weights. So I rinsed them again and what looked like a bunch more lead dust rinsed out of them. Is this normal? I have small kids, and I really don't need to have my own personal superfund site in my garage! :11:

I'm thinking I should just get rid of them and either to back to the hard weights or buy the soft weights that come sealed in neoprene pouches, like Sea Soft or ??? Thoughts, suggestions, ideas? :06:

It's lead oxide. Wash in fresh water while rubbing the shot-it will rinse out. If lead shot is used in salt water/chlorinated pool, it should be rinsed in fresh water after use. Chlorine is a super oxidizing agent (notice how fast it oxidizes the color in your dive wear?)and salt will actually pull moisture out of the air to accelerate the oxidation. Sea Pearls uses #4 lead shot to reduce the surface area available to oxidize by over 35% or more compared to competitors. We believe it is the best product of its kind and with a little preventative maintenence you problem will go away.

 

[liberato]

It's probably just Oxide from sitting just sweep it up and throw it away. I don't think it's going to hurt anything.... My kids are growing up in a dive shop and lead poisoning is the least of my worries for them.

But isn't lead oxide is what was used in banned paints that was so bad when cumulatively exposed? Having lead oxide dust around such that it can be swept up would be much more dangerous than the lead entrapped in paint. Lead poisoning is insidous in that there is usually not a immediately noticeable cause and effect relationship. You wake up one day and you are a sterile retard. :11:

 

[mstevens]

My kids are growing up in a dive shop and lead poisoning is the least of my worries for them.

I know of two different dive shop families with kids who tested alarmingly high for lead. One was in Texas where I went to medical school. The other is here in NH.

Why would you assume it couldn't be a problem for your kids?

 

[RTRski]

I always thought the shot had to be coated? Then again, I don't sweat all the lead at my local shooting range where I bag clay pigeons with my 12 gauge ...

 

[The Kraken]

Coating lead shot for weight pouches would be an exercise in futility. Although a coating would prevent the shot from oxidizing for a short period, the constant rubbing and abrading of the shot in the pouch would quickly remove any coating and you'd be back to square one.

I would think that if someone would develop some type of generic, ergodynamically formed coated hard weights that were intended for intergrated weight pocket use they could fill a nice place in a niche market.

 

[abitton]

Don't many of these pouches contain stainless steel "shot"???

 

[jlyle]

Pure metallic lead is pretty inert stuff and doesn't readily oxidize. The problem is that most commercial lead contains trace amounts of antimony and other elements; these impurities are the root cause of the lead oxidation when placed in sea water. Some batches of shot are more prone to this problem than others. Some soft weights don't oxidize at all, while others form lead oxide like crazy - you will see lots of milky white lead oxide.

Pure lead shot is much more expensive and isn't used by most manufacturers. I believe at one point SeaSoft was claiming antimony-free shot, but a quick look at their webpage doesn't confirm that. Coating the shot with graphite also seems to retard oxidation.

IMHO, bite the bullet and replace any soft weight products that start to show large amounts of white lead oxide. It isn't good for the environment or you!

I use plastic coated bullet weights and avoid the whole issue.