How? Serious question? I assume that a lead conical leaving the muzzle at 1600-1800 fps will fragment like nuts...how would you avoid lead microfragments?
Lead is very soft and malleable. It is also heavy and small particles do not remain suspended in the air for very long. You would have to be standing right at a "process" that produced airborne lead particles constantly, for a significant amount of time, before you could inhale enough for it to start elevating lead level in your body that would be worrisome. Getting enough lead in your system to start being of concern far and away happens more often from "eating" it, not breathing it. Thus, simple hygiene goes a long way to prevent issues.
I used to work for a firearm manufacturer at their bullet making department. Their lead process involved melting 2000 lbs "hogs" into a melt pot. This lead was then transferred to a "pour" pot. From there it was transferred into molds to make cylindrical "billets". After the billets had cooled, they were dropped into a giant cylinder and hydraulic force was applied to it to the point that it was extruded through a die to make lead wire. The extruded wire went through a couple pulleys to allow it a bit of time to cool before it was rolled onto a spool. The workers that did this process had several safety requirements to follow, mostly hygiene. They were issued coveralls to wear while working, the coveralls were to be removed after work every day before they went home. No wearing them in their car, in the lunchroom, or basically anywhere except when working out on the floor. They were required to wear a respirator only when drossing the pots, putting lead into the melts pots, and when sweeping up the area, as those three activities were the only things capable of producing enough airborn particles to be of concern. They were not allowed to eat anything before washing up, and weren't allowed to carry food or tobacco on their person while working.
These workers spent 48 hours a week working around lead, yet they only got annual tests to check their lead level. They could request a test at any time too, if they had concerns. A high majority of them never had any issues with lead levels ever, they followed the protocols. But there were two that did while I was there. We were able to determine that both of them were "eating" lead, from poor hygiene, not from breathing it. One of them was a smoker and we found that he was carrying an open pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket while working. Lead particles were settling on the filters of his smokes, which he would then basically put into his mouth and "eat" when he went and smoked on his breaks. When he stopped carrying the open smokes in his pocket, his lead level dropped back down and he never had another problem. The other employee was violating all kinds of safety measures; eating without washing, and even wearing his coveralls home...he even kept his coveralls on for a while when he got home and his small child he held and played with ended up with an elevated lead level from this! This was also from "eating" it, not from breathing it.
Both had the symptoms of having trouble sleeping, a common high lead level first warning sign. They either were very tired and wanted to sleep all the time, or had trouble going to sleep.
I'll bet
@Kingwalter is very familiar with this info and knows much more than I do.
