[DR Column] Lead poisoning

It’s time to seriously think and worried about lead poisoning from existing bullets.

The more soldiers practice shooting, the more likely they are to get lead poisoning from the lead dust produced when they fire bullets. The ROK military shooting range is much higher than the US air quality standard of 1.5μg/m3 (average for three months). This come from structural problems of bullet shown below.

In the structure of currently used bullets, lead is exposed at the bottom of the bullet. Because of this, the gunpowder explodes at the moment of firing, vaporizing the exposed lead, and lead dust escapes from the muzzle together with the gas of the gunpowder. In particular, a larger amount of lead dust is generated in the case of a machine gun or Gatling gun, which is very likely to lead to lead poisoning for the shooter and nearby soldiers. For this reason, the more shooting practice you do, the more damage you accumulate. Also, soil contamination should also be taken seriously.

Should Soldiers Reduce Target Practice To Prevent Lead Poisoning And Soil Pollution?

The answer to this question is no need to. The U.S. military is already using environmentally friendly ammunition that does not use lead. In foreign countries, countermeasures against lead dust during military shooting have already been established and are being implemented. As an alternative to this, lead-free products such as the M855A1 are being used. In the future, the ROK military will use eco-friendly ammunition with higher combat-power than the M855A1.

It is the high-performance ammunition of DureTek called Dr16A1. Completely Lead-Free, it will contribute to raising its fighting power to the world’s top level.