Are lead minis dangerous?

[Marius Delphus]

That matches my memory as well. I vaguely remember something about a suit or statute from New York being the catalyst. Ral Partha renamed their pewter something ridiculous that escapes me just now.

"Ralidium," IIRC.

I had occasion to discuss this one just the other day, and I also have this vague recollection of a "sudden"-ish switch-over to non-lead "lead" minis.

'Course, we still call 'em "lead figures" for what it's worth.

 

[pogre]

that was my line....go back to my original post in this thread.

Saying the same thing differently is what this message board is all about

 

[D+1]

So, assuming I get around to painting them, I should wear gloves and use a respirator, and then make sure that I and my group wash our hands after every game where we use them.

I'm still leaning towards selling them.

Got you good and paranoid now eh? I'm no MD, but I think it's safe to say that painting them and playing D&D with lead miniatures will not be any more likely to give you brain damage than failing to wash your hands after using the restroom will send you into the hospital. Don't suck on your lead minis, or melt them down and lean over to inhale the fumes repeatedly and at length, or give them to small children to play with and chances are EXCELLENT you and your lead minis will life long and prosper.

This is not to say that there is no danger from lead but lets be reasonable. People die and are maimed in car crashes but we don't seal ourselves into our cars with Safe-T-Fome!, we just buckle our seatbelts. If you are so concerned about your minis that you'll make sure to wash your hands after every game and still don't want them around anymore then surely they are too DANGEROUS to sell. It would be immoral to simply pass on hazardous materials to a possibly ignorant purchaser. I hereby offer myself as a disposal agent for ALL unwanted lead minis. Just send 'em to me and I'll take care of them. I confess that I will keep the best of them for use myself but I can probably sell the bulk lead to a non-ferrous metals dealer somewhere for a few cents to finance my uncontrolled plasticrack habit.

 

[D+1]

sawbones is right in truth. but the whole worst case scenario always makes people err on the side of caution when giving advice on subject's like this one.

you will note on the CDC link i posted about the dangers of lead poisoning it does mention Hobbyists.

But when you look closer at the list of hobbyists, what they use lead for and possibly more important HOW they use it is what presents the danger. I'm no expert but I'll say that my initial impression is that the danger from most of those hobbies would be prolonged exposure to fumes from molten lead in close proximity.

As a side note, even before the move to Raladium and pewter it was my understanding that the metal used wasn't exactly pure lead. Too much lead would actually make miniatures too SOFT to be useable. Too little lead and they became somewhat brittle. You'll undoubtedly notice that the lead content varies between manufacturers, different minis, and probably even between the same minis simply because the metal being used isn't mixed with scientific accuracy. What they mix it with I've never heard, just that they call it "white metal". Heard that name a LONG ways back (the '80's I'm sure)but never saw a description of what constitutes it.