So it could seem obvious that it’s risky to leave an actual chunk of lead inside a person’s body. In December, a Reuters investigation found 3,000 areas where at least 10 percent of people had lead poisoning. The people of Flint, Michigan, have already reported more than 8,000 documented cases, costing hundreds of millions of dollars and unknowably many IQ points. Eating the tiniest paint chips (even only on special occasions) can do it, but drinking slightly contaminated water is widely believed to be the most common cause of lead toxicity. As lead-exposure data has improved, subtle signs have revealed themselves-to the point that the new consensus on lead poisoning among many experts is that there is no “safe” amount of lead in one’s bloodstream.Ī person’s lead levels can be quantifiably increased by minor exposures. In 1971 that fell to 40, and later to 20, then 10, then five (as of 2015). Having 60 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood used to be the cutoff for what was considered safe. And to people who knew that the threshold for what constitutes lead “toxicity,” or “poisoning,” has plummeted over the decades. The idea that bullets can cause lead poisoning might seem obvious to trivia nerds who knew that bullets were made of lead. “Retained bullet fragments (RBFs) are an infrequently reported, but important, cause of lead toxicity,” the CDC team reports, noting that symptoms “can appear years after suffering a gunshot wound.” The metal can make its way into the blood stream and impair the functioning of nerves. This happens not because the bullet is lodged in the person’s brain or uterus, but because the bullet slowly exudes lead into bodily tissues. This week new data from the CDC warns us that bullet fragments left inside of people can have insidious long-term consequences, from fatigue to memory loss to mood disorders to miscarriage. In Jackson’s case, he has also said the bullet fragments are “great for oral sex.”īenefits like that will have to be weighed and examined anew, though. Indeed, excavation and extraction can be more dangerous than any other course of action, even factoring in the possibility of forever setting off metal detectors. Even Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who had speech-altering shrapnel lodged in his tongue, was advised by his doctors to leave it in, he said in 2013, because “it might do more damage to my nerves and taste buds.” Assuming that bullet fragments aren’t lodged near something like a major vessel or plexus, the standard practice among surgeons has been to let things be. When a bullet penetrates a person’s body, sometimes it follows a clean path and lands in a harmless place.įirst-time gunshot victims tend to be surprised to learn that the bullet often doesn’t need to be removed.
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