Greg Lemond's plunge in fitness ... lead poisoning

[AllUpHill]

It seems like I'd gotten wind a few years back of someone saying Greg Lemond's sudden plummet in competitive trainability at the end of his career was due to the slow, continual release of lead from the bullets or bullet fragments remaining in his body. I might have caught it on this site, or maybe from some windbag I ride with, or maybe I dreamed it up entirely. Any potential truth to this? Is this one of the effects of non-lethal levels of lead intake?

Sorry, this is probably pure myth fodder. Bullets probably haven't been made of lead since 1779 for all I would know. I've just been thinking about it lately during all the quality time I seem to spend with my soldering iron, circuit boards and lead solder.

[benInMA]

Bullets are definitely still made of lead... maybe not all, but some definitely are.

[Fredke]

Lemond was hit by a shotgun and shot is still made from lead, the same as it ever was. The medical literature contains a number of studies that show elevated blood levels in military veterans and others with retained bullets and shrapnel.

This condition is rare because usually metallic lead in the body is insoluble, so the retained bullets and fragments are encapsulated and present no danger, but if fragments are lodged in the joints the lead can dissolve because it's much more soluble in synovial fluid.

One concise reference on the subject is John and Boatright, "Lead Toxicity from Gunshot Wound," Southern Medical Journal Vol. 9, pp. 223-4 (1999).

Thus, the answer to your question would be that Lemond is probably not suffering lead poisoning, but it's not impossble.

Your soldering iron puts you at much greater risk of lead poisoning than Lemond's retained shot because you're getting lead all over your hands, whence you could introduce it into your gut if you're not careful to wash before eating or drinking. The most important thing for your safety is not to eat or drink while you're soldering. A cup of coffee by your station could easily become contaminated. Also, be scrupulous about washing your hands thoroughly with plenty of soap and water immediately after you leave your soldering station.

And if you have kids, don't solder in a room where your kids might play later. You can leave dangerous levels of lead on surfaces without being aware of it.

[Dwayne Barry]

I've always heard that he was diagnosed with some sort of muscle mitochondria disease. The mitochondria being the organelles within cells that produce energy oxidatively. So not surprisingly that would probably end any elite endurance athletes career. I have no idea if lead poisoning affects the mitochondria or not, or for that matter if Lemond had lead poisoning.

[Dream Plus]

..is that he was hanging onto the team car, obviously overweight, while the peleton was not quite motoring up 273 toward Fair Hill the same year he won the Tour for his comeback.

[brewdude]

Wow...I never really thought about the implications of having a bullet lodged in your body. I was shot by a 9mm about 10 years ago. Luckily, the bullet ended up visible underneath the skin so the doc removed it.

[Kerry Irons]

Lemond was diagnosed with Mitochondrial myopathy, which means sick mitochondria. The mitochondria are the energy producing structures in your muscles. Whether this was caused by lead poisoning is open to conjecture, and there was plenty of conjecture at the time. No real cause was ever identified. The diagnosis really means that "you're not kicking ass like you used to" but whether this was actually a disease or just physiological degradation was/is not obvious. Lemond with mitochondrial myopathy was still faster than 99.9% of cyclists on the planet, just no longer at the top of the pro peleton.

The conjecture continues, and the last comment I saw from Lemond seemed to indicate that he felt he was never the same after his gunshot accident, but then I've never been the same as I was at 30 years old either.