Metallic Fumes at Indoor Military Shooting Ranges: Lead, Copper, Nickel, and Zinc in Different Fractions of Airborne Particulate Matter

Orru, Hans; Pindus, Mihkel; Harro, Haldo‐Rait; Maasikmets, Marek; Herodes, Koit

doi:10.1002/prep.201700225

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The measured PM 10 concentrations in this study were comparable with the ones reported by Orru et al [71]. The average PM concentration in one of the shooting ranges in which pistols were used is 28.9 µg/m 3 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Investigating ambient air quality of a shooting range during official national competitions

Aslanoğlu

Öztürk

Güllü

2022

Environmental Research and Technology

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Shooting is among nine sports branches that formed the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. A professional shooting athlete shoots millions of bullets throughout their sports life to commune with their gun dedicatedly. The number of simultaneous shots per unit time depends on the capacity of the range. It can enormously increase when a national match is a case. Shooting can cause gunshot residue exposure, including lead, other elements, and their by-products accumulate in ambient air and reveal significant health risks. This study aims to find the levels of PM 10 and its chemical composition during official three-day 50 m 22-cal competitions in May 2016, Mersin, Turkey. To this end, PM 10 samples were collected on quartz-fiber filters and analyzed for elements by ICP-MS and carbonaceous material by Thermal-Optical EC/OC analyzer. The total PM 10 mass concentration average is 28.7±7.3 µg/m 3 within the indoor threshold values of different countries. The ambient mass concentrations of PM 10 , OC, EC, TC, Cd, and Pb were higher during once pistol matches instead of rifle matches. Although Pb values did not exceed the indoor limits for shooting ranges, it has the highest concentration among the analyzed elements. Additionally, Cr poses cancer risk potential. Except for Zn, Sr, and Cu, all the measured parameters have higher calculated emission factor (EF) values during pistol shots. To our best knowledge, this study reports the airborne mass concentrations of EC, OC, and TC from indoor shooting ranges and investigates indoor air quality for shooting sport for the first time.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Investigating ambient air quality of a shooting range during official national competitions

Aslanoğlu

Öztürk

Güllü

2022

Environmental Research and Technology

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“…Notably, the available research is limited to a few studies analyzing GSR particles in an outdoor setting [29] and detecting fine particulates that would be respirable to the shooter and bystanders [28,29,35]. The determination of size deposition of GSR is important to understand due to the health effects related to different fractions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particle size distribution of organic and inorganic components from GSR is a key factor in the determination of health and environmental effects related to PM 2.5 . A limited number of studies observed the deposition and particle size in an indoor or controlled setting [10,11,28,29,35,37] but there is a lack of research, particularly in outdoor settings, for characterizing PM 2.5 from GSR. PM 2.5 is composed of a number of health-relevant components: including the aforementioned inorganic and organic species in GSR as well as black carbon which has known health effects [38,39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne and Dermal Collection Methods of Gunshot Residue for Toxicity Studies

2022

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Gunshot residue (GSR) has potential negative health effects on humans as a result of inhalation and dermal exposure to the chemical and physical characteristics of GSR such as Pb, Sb, Ba, nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, and particulate size fraction. Filter (size selective) and double-sided tape (non-size selective) samples collected airborne GSR during single and triple firing of a 0.22 caliber revolver. Dermal exposures were considered using hand swabs and de-leading wipes, designed to remove the heavy metals. The samples underwent analysis to investigate physical (morphology, size distribution, zeta potential), chemical (black carbon and element concentrations), and potential to induce oxidative stress (oxidative potential via the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay). All sample types detected Pb concentrations higher than national ambient air standards. The de-leading wipes reduced the metal content on the hands of the shooter for Pb (15.57 ± 12.99 ppb and 3.13 ± 4.95 ppb). Filter samples provided health relevant data for airborne PM2.5 for all of the analysis methods except for GSR morphology. This work identified collection and analysis methods for GSR in an outdoor setting, providing protocols and considerations for future toxicological studies related to inhalation and dermal exposures to particulate GSR. Future studies should investigate the influence of meteorological factors on GSR exposure in an outdoor setting.

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“…For example, by 2020, handguns and rifles accounted for 75% of annual production of total firearms in the United States 2 . Given the increasing number of firearms, tens of millions of people are exposed to smoke emissions from gun firing activities at various places every year such as military and recreational firing/training ranges [3][4][5][6][7] . Shooters can inhale the smoke directly from firearms but are also exposed from resuspended gunshot residue on their clothing, hands, and other surfaces 3,8 , however it is unclear whether such exposure can cause adverse health effects.…”

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confidence: 99%

Chemistry and lung toxicity of particulate matter emitted from firearms

Kim

Vance

Aurell

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Smoke emissions produced by firearms contain hazardous chemicals, but little is known if their properties change depending on firearm and ammunition type and whether such changes affect toxicity outcomes. Pulmonary toxicity was assessed in mice exposed by oropharyngeal aspiration to six different types of smoke-related particulate matter (PM) samples; (1) handgun PM, (2) rifle PM, (3) copper (Cu) particles (a surrogate for Cu in the rifle PM) with and without the Cu chelator penicillamine, (4) water-soluble components of the rifle PM, (5) soluble components with removal of metal ions, and (6) insoluble components of the rifle PM. Gun firing smoke PM was in the respirable size range but the chemical composition varied with high levels of Pb in the handgun and Cu in the rifle smoke. The handgun PM did not induce appreciable lung toxicity at 4 and 24 h post-exposure while the rifle PM significantly increased lung inflammation and reduced lung function. The same levels of pure Cu particles alone and the soluble components from the rifle fire PM increased neutrophil numbers but did not cause appreciable cellular damage or lung function changes when compared to the negative (saline) control. Penicillamine treated rifle PM or Cu, slightly reduced lung inflammation and injury but did not improve the lung function decrements. Chelation of the soluble metal ions from the rifle fire PM neutralized the lung toxicity while the insoluble components induced the lung toxicity to the same degree as the rifle PM. The results show that different firearm types can generate contrasting chemical spectra in their emissions and that the rifle PM effects were mostly driven by water-insoluble components containing high levels of Cu. These findings provide better knowledge of hazardous substances in gun firing smoke and their potential toxicological profile.

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Metallic Fumes at Indoor Military Shooting Ranges: Lead, Copper, Nickel, and Zinc in Different Fractions of Airborne Particulate Matter

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

Investigating ambient air quality of a shooting range during official national competitions

Investigating ambient air quality of a shooting range during official national competitions

Airborne and Dermal Collection Methods of Gunshot Residue for Toxicity Studies

Chemistry and lung toxicity of particulate matter emitted from firearms

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