Texas Air Quality Experts Help Prevent Exposure to Hazardous Levels of Lead at Gun Ranges

AUSTIN, Texas - Feb. 24, 2015 - PRLog -- Texas is home to a multitude of indoor and outdoor shooting ranges.  Across the entire country, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates there are approximately 9,000 non-military outdoor firing ranges and between 16,000 and 18,000 indoor ranges.  The U.S. military alone operates more than 3,000 indoor firing ranges.

Gun enthusiasts, law enforcement officers and soldiers regularly visit these shooting ranges and the facilities employee a large number of workers.  At these facilities, enormous amounts of lead from bullets are fired at both outdoor and indoor ranges each year.  Due to this fact, the air and grounds can be contaminated with high levels of lead and lead dusts.

Despite the natural ventilation of outdoor firing ranges, personal breathing zone lead levels can exceed the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL).  Indoor ranges have additional challenges and NIOSH states that, “Ventilation is the most important engineering control for protection against primary lead exposure in indoor firing ranges.”

Helping to protect shooting range workers and those who utilize these facilities from the hazards associated with lead poisoning are the lead exposure experts from Indoor Environmental Consultants, Inc. “Lead is a well-known toxic heavy metal and the use of lead bullets at firing ranges can create lead poisoning risks for workers and customers,” said Hollis L. Horner, President of Indoor Environmental Consultants, Inc.  “Employees are often at greatest risk due to the amount of potential exposure as even basic tasks, like cleaning and maintenance work, can be a source of exposure for high levels of lead.  These tasks should be performed by workers that have been trained in the proper techniques of exposure control and personal protective equipment.  At IEC, our environmental and ventilation experts help to identify and resolve lead exposure risks through air, surface and bulk testing services across Texas and the Gulf Region.”

IEC recently sponsored an educational video about lead exposure risks and shooting ranges that can be seen at: http://youtu.be/OmjzmbbPxk0



To learn more about IEC’s lead testing and consulting services, please visit www.iecinc.net, email ncancino@iecinc.net or call (877) 432-8378.

About Indoor Environmental Consultants, Inc.

IEC began operations in 2001 with some of the nation’s most seasoned professional indoor air quality consultants who already had over 70 years of combined experience.  The indoor environmental quality firm specializes in field investigations and assessments of commercial, institutional and residential buildings.  Their services, related to fungal (mold), chemical, bacterial, asbestos and particulate pollutants, are offered throughout Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Southwest. IEC is licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services as a mold assessment company (ACO0114) and an asbestos consultant agency (100329).