"The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requests help in preventing injury and illness in workers at indoor firing ranges in the United States. Workers are potentially exposed to hazardous amounts of lead and noise at these ranges. They include thousands of employees at the firing ranges as well as more than a million Federal, State, and local law officers who train regularly at these facilities. In addition to workers, 20 million active target shooters are potentially exposed to lead and noise hazards at indoor firing ranges. This Alert presents five case reports that document lead and noise exposures of law enforcement officers and students. The Alert examines firing range operations, exposure assessment and control methods, existing regulations, and exposure standards and guidelines. NIOSH requests that the recommendations in this Alert be brought to the attention of all firing range owners, operators, workers, and users as well as safety and health officials, industry associations, unions, and editors of trade journals."--NIOSHTIC-2.

"The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently published recommendations for reducing exposure to lead and noise at indoor firing ranges [NIOSH 2009]. However, workers and users of outdoor firing ranges may be exposed to similar hazards. This followup document examines exposures at these ranges and recommends steps to reduce such exposures. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 1.2 million Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers work in the United States [DOJ 2012, 2011]. These officers are required to train regularly in the use of firearms and may be exposed to hazardous levels of lead and noise if they train at outdoor ranges. In addition to law enforcement, NIOSH estimates that shooting ranges employ 40,000-60,000 workers, and that about 15% of the U.S. population, or 34.4 million people, participate in target shooting [NSSF 2010]. Several studies of outdoor firing ranges have shown that exposure to lead and noise can cause health problems, particularly among employees and instructors [NIOSH 2011; Tripathi et al. 1991; Goldberg et al. 1991]. Lead exposure occurs mainly through inhalation of lead dust, skin contact with lead from bullets, or ingestion (e.g., eating or drinking with contaminated hands) [NIOSH 2009]. Workers and shooters involved in shooting, cleaning operations, collecting casings, and handling spent bullets may also be exposed to lead. An estimated 9,000 non-military outdoor ranges exist in the United States, with millions of pounds of lead from bullets shot annually. Because outdoor ranges are typically built in an open area, lead and noise are more widely dispersed. Outdoor ranges need less cleaning and maintenance than indoor ranges. However, despite the natural ventilation of outdoor firing ranges, personal breathing zone lead levels can exceed the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) [Mancuso et al. 2008]. Some outdoor ranges have ballistic baffles overhead and concrete walls and structures on the sides. The air in these spaces can become stagnant and lead to increased exposures." - NIOSHTIC-2

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a technical assistance request from a federal government agency in California. Although no health symptoms or hearing loss were reported, the requestor was concerned about exposures to noise and lead among firing range instructors at an outdoor firing range. Findings and recommendations are detailed.