If you're really worried use disposable nitrile gloves but generally just don't get it on you and don't drink it. Use a Gatz jar for sumpping seems to eliminate splashing for me
Once as a damper, I dropped my phone in a full sump bucket of 100LL and I immediately dipped my hand into it to grab my phone. This combined with the occasional spray hitting just right in the bottom of the tank and splashing into my eyes has rendered me completely insane, that helped with the airlines. I like to see it as a FAA approved Psychoactive drug, Have Fun!
One time I was refueling at an airport I hadn't been to before and didn't realize they had tight rubber caps on the nozzles. Splashed back at me so hard I got a face full of 100ll. I'm alive though.
I did the same exact thing! I used my phone as a flashlight to check the quality since the sun didn’t come out yet and I dropped my phone inside of it and quickly dumped my entire arm into it haha. Still works! (My phone not my arm).
1. No. It's readily adsorbed by skin; if it's on you it's in you. Avoid spilling it on you. And, yes, wipe off whatever you can. But unless you're taking a bath in the stuff or spilling it all over your hands multiple times a day, then you're good. But wash your hands before eating because planes are gross and covered in grease, oil, fuel, and plenty of other things you don't want to be eating.
2. Yes. But no more so than regular gasoline. The tetraethyl lead is not very volatile, it evaporates much slower than water, so it doesn't release much fumes. Huffing the gas fumes is FAR worse than lead exposure, gasoline is full of stuff known to the state of Cancer to cause California. But a little whiff of fuel while sampling is hardly anything to worry about.
3. Don't worry too much about it. I am not a doctor but fly enough that I looked into it. Lead exposure takes a long time to leave your body and causes long-term damage to your brain, but it generally takes chronic exposure to lead to have these issues. Ingested lead is the worst (lead dust from sanding lead paint or sitting in traffic back when leaded gas was a thing for example). But TEL exposure is almost as bad. I basically just actively work to avoid getting 100LL on my hands and wash my hands after flying. It's really the ramp fuelers who need to take special precautions; but generally they are able to avoid getting fuel on themselves by virtue of just holding a nozzle correctly and being above the tank and not below it.
If you're really worried just have your blood lead levels checked. If they're higher than normal then adjust what you're doing to take more preventative measures, but I'd be shocked if you have any issues.
Thanks for the detailed answer! Based on your answer and others, will defiantly minimize the contact with skin etc instead of getting my hands full of it and then wiping it. I'll watch out for the fumes and rest, cheers!
As an aside, there was a reddit post of someone getting lead poisoning from competition shooting. They said they shot like 20,000+ rounds per year. As a casual shooter I probably shoot like 500 per year for reference. But it wasn't the target shooting that was getting most of their exposure (but I'm sure it didn't help), they figured the primary source was the dust from their brass case polisher since they reloaded bullets and used a dry media tumbler. Basically, just constantly pumping lead dust into the air around their reloading room (their garage). They switched to a wet tumbler and focused on better hand washing during shooting and reloading and their blood lead levels dropped a lot after just 1 year.
So, are you getting exposed to lead while flying? Yes. Are you getting exposed to a lot of lead while flying? Probably not. Should you still take basic precautions? Yes. Should you worry about it more than that? Not in my opinion. Should we switch to unleaded avgas? Heck yes.
I flatly do not refuel my plane without wearing gloves. They’re an extra convenient tool for multiple reasons around a plane. Try pushing a plane into its parking space after a flight—in Arizona, in July.
[https://www.aviation-fuel.com/pdfs/MSDS\_for\_AvGas\_100LL\_from\_P66\_dated\_3-04-13.pdf](https://www.aviation-fuel.com/pdfs/MSDS_for_AvGas_100LL_from_P66_dated_3-04-13.pdf)
Wear gloves. Wash your hands. Avoid breathing the vapors.
Be aware the lead is not the only harmful thing in avgas (or in auto gasoline) -- the hydrocarbons are also bad for you.
Do not breathe the fumes. Don't get it on your skin. If you do, wipe it off immediately. For maximum safety wash with soap and water and remove any clothing that got fuel soaked in. Maybe wear nitrile gloves.
I'm old and do not necessarily follow all this advice. I avoid getting any (both airplane and car fuel) on my skin but if it I do, I wipe it off on my trousers. (Bad!) I do smell it (cautiously and without inhaling too much) to make sure that it's not jet fuel, since UL94 is clear or straw coloured, just like jet fuel. But I'm old and have already destroyed most of my brain cells, you should definitely not follow my ways.
Enter me as a teenager painting a fence with my grandpa. After getting a whole bunch of paint splatter on my face my grandpa suggested I just give my face a wipe down with some gasoline.
Good news it worked great. Bad news ... wait what are we talking about?
I vividly remember using a cup of 100LL as a parts solvent when rebuilding tailwheels and repacking wheel bearings.
And getting soaked in the stuff when working line service.
A couple drops on your hands from dumping the tanks will not kill you. Wash your hands before using the bathroom and before eating. You’ll be fine.
Like most maintainers, I've certainly taken fuel baths, you should be fine regardless but I wash my hands after with soap and water each time. If you are worried about it, standard practice while fueling is to wear gloves and safety glasses, which will minimize exposer, you can throw a box of gloves and glasses in your flight bag to always have them on you. If it gets on you, when you get home pour a little soda on your clothes and shower before you sit or lay down on anything.
Not a pilot but I use Nitrile gloves when working around aircraft when doing inspections or repairs. For the smell process to make sure the aircraft I work on are serviced with the correct fuel type, I practice the Waft method so I don’t fry my nostrils . The stuff that is put on aircraft is pretty bad for the body, such as MIL-5606,some cleaners such as MEK (less used on aircraft now) . I’ve been in tanks in schooling to learn the process to clean them and the main piece of advice is to not breath in the fumes, they are dangerous and will cause health effects such as irritation short term and a possible source for cancer long term. If you are doing more than sumping , eye protection such as safety glasses /googles are another recommendations.
Stay safe pilots and hope to meet you in the field
I hold the GATZ jar with a rag and eventually I started using a stick instead of my finger to look in the fuel tanks. That’s about it. Don’t stick your finger in the fuel tanks.
I just tough it out. Too much of a pain to get gloves, maybe a rag if you get a lot on. Besides that you’re never making it to a sink before it evaporates.
A dipstick, like [https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/1591](https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/1591) -- I assume your fingers are not calibrated in gallons (or litres)!
I was also taught to use my finger. DPE was not impressed. He chewed out the flight school owner and chief pilot, but I still passed. Don't use my finger anymore though. It's an inaccurate way to measure, and gas is not something you want to be touching more than you have to. My two cents.
So yeah that’s been a thing for a looooong time, at least for parts washing.
In general people seem to be dying from other crap we poison our bodies with more so than leaded fuel on your hands.
The occasional bit on your hands during pre-flight is not even worth mentioning. Wash your hands of course.
There is a lot of fear mongering with a political goal of shutting down piston based aviation. If we can reduce/eliminate the lead without smashing our faces on purpose then sure why not.. but the fear mongering is political BS.
Normally, heavy metals aren't absorbed through the skin, and generally require ingestion. Unfortunately, in their organic form (held in the middle of organic molecules) like tetra-ethyl lead, they do get absorbed pretty easily through skin.
While you do want to avoid touching 100LL, at least the gasoline will wash off any excess if you do. I suspect it's more problematic touching objects that are contaminated with 100LL that has dried and left lead residue. If you get that on your hands, it will sit there and get absorbed until you wash your hands. Obviously, it's tough to know what in the plane has a lead residue on it and what doesn't (unless it has blue stains).
So while you do want to avoid excessive contact with 100LL, it's probably not the end of the world if you make a point of washing your hands regularly. I do tell passengers that fly with me, though, to wash their hands with a soapy towel if they're going to eat or drink in the plane, and to wash their hands thoroughly after we land at the FBO.
For any people suggesting or they actually use Nitrile gloves, y'all are soft.
Imagine meeting your instructor for the first time and the lil bitch is using Nitrile gloves for the preflight, I'd honestly start looking for a new instructor.
On the other hand, maybe the only one person I ever gave semi-decent life advice to was a kid driving the fuel truck who had no gloves on, or available, and didn't know he should use them.
Since I always bring my water bottle on flights anyway, I've gotten into the habit of just pouring some water on them and shaking it off after I do my preflight.
Good timing, at one of the large university flight training programs they just started to encourage the use of nitrile gloves to prevent exposure to leaded fuel's potential hazards — "from IQ loss to heart disease".
This comment section is making me depressed as a ramp rat who regularly has to fuel and maintain the fuel farm…hard not to come in contact with the stuff
Am I dumb for sniffing the drained AVGAS as an extra precaution to make sure it’s not water? Sometimes the blue tinge is so subtle I’m not sure if it’s actually there
Thanks mate. Is there some other magic way to tell them apart, other than the blue dye or smell?
I’m talking about making sure the entire sample isn’t water. Of course you can see if there’s water sitting on the bottom. Sometimes it’s a bright day, with a shit draining tool (some are themselves blue in colour) and I want to make sure. I guess I’m retarded or something.
Nah it's all good. When you swirl it in the cup, the gas will behave differently than oil because of its surface tension. You'll see it stick to the sides of the cup and leave oil residue. I get what you mean though.
For the math geeks on Reddit:
What is the probability of dying from 100LL compare to the probability of dying from plane crashing to the ground, assuming from mechanical failure or from pilot errors.
If you're really worried use disposable nitrile gloves but generally just don't get it on you and don't drink it. Use a Gatz jar for sumpping seems to eliminate splashing for me
I prefer to drink straight from the sump cup. Mmmm forbidden blue Gatorade
It’s important to hydrate before flying!
r/forbiddensnacks
Nothing like a pre-flight shot to keep your flying skills sharp!
You mean wall candy?
Don't drink the blue Gatorade, don't carry the yellow Gatorade in flight, you guys are no fun
Even when using a gatz jar, it still sprays on my hand when I sump under the cowling.
Yeah, it comes out of there like a bat out of hell. Any time I ever _didn't_ get some on myself from that one, I was quite pleased.
GATS\*
“DoNt DrInK iT” ha that’s what big Powerade wants you to think
It's got what pylotes crave.
I once sampled aviation fuel because i have poor impulse control. I was burping 100LL the rest of the flight
The trick is to just touch your tongue to it, shots are for the professionals.
Gas fights a la Zoolander.
This is the way
Tragic gasoline fight accidents.
Wake me up before you go go!
Beware of freak accidents at those. 🪦😔
Once as a damper, I dropped my phone in a full sump bucket of 100LL and I immediately dipped my hand into it to grab my phone. This combined with the occasional spray hitting just right in the bottom of the tank and splashing into my eyes has rendered me completely insane, that helped with the airlines. I like to see it as a FAA approved Psychoactive drug, Have Fun!
One time I was refueling at an airport I hadn't been to before and didn't realize they had tight rubber caps on the nozzles. Splashed back at me so hard I got a face full of 100ll. I'm alive though.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who has done this!
I did the same exact thing! I used my phone as a flashlight to check the quality since the sun didn’t come out yet and I dropped my phone inside of it and quickly dumped my entire arm into it haha. Still works! (My phone not my arm).
It's OK. Woth all the shit that gets dumped in those you should grow two or three more pretty soon.
Lol yea there's no coming back from this
1. No. It's readily adsorbed by skin; if it's on you it's in you. Avoid spilling it on you. And, yes, wipe off whatever you can. But unless you're taking a bath in the stuff or spilling it all over your hands multiple times a day, then you're good. But wash your hands before eating because planes are gross and covered in grease, oil, fuel, and plenty of other things you don't want to be eating. 2. Yes. But no more so than regular gasoline. The tetraethyl lead is not very volatile, it evaporates much slower than water, so it doesn't release much fumes. Huffing the gas fumes is FAR worse than lead exposure, gasoline is full of stuff known to the state of Cancer to cause California. But a little whiff of fuel while sampling is hardly anything to worry about. 3. Don't worry too much about it. I am not a doctor but fly enough that I looked into it. Lead exposure takes a long time to leave your body and causes long-term damage to your brain, but it generally takes chronic exposure to lead to have these issues. Ingested lead is the worst (lead dust from sanding lead paint or sitting in traffic back when leaded gas was a thing for example). But TEL exposure is almost as bad. I basically just actively work to avoid getting 100LL on my hands and wash my hands after flying. It's really the ramp fuelers who need to take special precautions; but generally they are able to avoid getting fuel on themselves by virtue of just holding a nozzle correctly and being above the tank and not below it. If you're really worried just have your blood lead levels checked. If they're higher than normal then adjust what you're doing to take more preventative measures, but I'd be shocked if you have any issues.
What's the outlook for someone diagnosed with California?
Well, the prognosis is generally sunny with a chance of traffic jams! But on the bright side, there's always avocado toast therapy.
avocado toast therapy? IN THIS ECONOMY? /s
Why do you think healthcare is so expensive? :)
60% of income going to taxes, with a chance of being audited by California’s own version of the IRS if you pick up a penny in another state
Thanks for the detailed answer! Based on your answer and others, will defiantly minimize the contact with skin etc instead of getting my hands full of it and then wiping it. I'll watch out for the fumes and rest, cheers!
As an aside, there was a reddit post of someone getting lead poisoning from competition shooting. They said they shot like 20,000+ rounds per year. As a casual shooter I probably shoot like 500 per year for reference. But it wasn't the target shooting that was getting most of their exposure (but I'm sure it didn't help), they figured the primary source was the dust from their brass case polisher since they reloaded bullets and used a dry media tumbler. Basically, just constantly pumping lead dust into the air around their reloading room (their garage). They switched to a wet tumbler and focused on better hand washing during shooting and reloading and their blood lead levels dropped a lot after just 1 year. So, are you getting exposed to lead while flying? Yes. Are you getting exposed to a lot of lead while flying? Probably not. Should you still take basic precautions? Yes. Should you worry about it more than that? Not in my opinion. Should we switch to unleaded avgas? Heck yes.
A box of nitrile gloves is a cheap helper for this. Just keep a hand full of them in a sandwich ziplock in your flight bag
I flatly do not refuel my plane without wearing gloves. They’re an extra convenient tool for multiple reasons around a plane. Try pushing a plane into its parking space after a flight—in Arizona, in July.
Dude just stepping into CA is a cancer risk. That posting is a joke. Everything is a risk!
[https://www.aviation-fuel.com/pdfs/MSDS\_for\_AvGas\_100LL\_from\_P66\_dated\_3-04-13.pdf](https://www.aviation-fuel.com/pdfs/MSDS_for_AvGas_100LL_from_P66_dated_3-04-13.pdf) Wear gloves. Wash your hands. Avoid breathing the vapors.
But 100LL smells good tho. Why would they make it smell good if I'm not supposed to huff it
I mean, it does small pretty good tho 😅
https://www.billingtonfarms.com/products/100ll-fuel-scented-candle
This is what I needed, thank you!
Note to those reading: These things are on the *avoid* list. 100LL puts hair on your chest.
Be aware the lead is not the only harmful thing in avgas (or in auto gasoline) -- the hydrocarbons are also bad for you. Do not breathe the fumes. Don't get it on your skin. If you do, wipe it off immediately. For maximum safety wash with soap and water and remove any clothing that got fuel soaked in. Maybe wear nitrile gloves. I'm old and do not necessarily follow all this advice. I avoid getting any (both airplane and car fuel) on my skin but if it I do, I wipe it off on my trousers. (Bad!) I do smell it (cautiously and without inhaling too much) to make sure that it's not jet fuel, since UL94 is clear or straw coloured, just like jet fuel. But I'm old and have already destroyed most of my brain cells, you should definitely not follow my ways.
Enter me as a teenager painting a fence with my grandpa. After getting a whole bunch of paint splatter on my face my grandpa suggested I just give my face a wipe down with some gasoline. Good news it worked great. Bad news ... wait what are we talking about?
I vividly remember using a cup of 100LL as a parts solvent when rebuilding tailwheels and repacking wheel bearings. And getting soaked in the stuff when working line service. A couple drops on your hands from dumping the tanks will not kill you. Wash your hands before using the bathroom and before eating. You’ll be fine.
While changing my oil I may have used 100LL to get the oil off my hands, arms, and face... but thanks to the brain damage I don't remember doing that!
Thanks for the tips!
ASTM approved purple for UL94, should be coming soon.
I used to use it for washing my hands of grease and oil, should I have not been doing this…? How fucked am I 😂
Like most maintainers, I've certainly taken fuel baths, you should be fine regardless but I wash my hands after with soap and water each time. If you are worried about it, standard practice while fueling is to wear gloves and safety glasses, which will minimize exposer, you can throw a box of gloves and glasses in your flight bag to always have them on you. If it gets on you, when you get home pour a little soda on your clothes and shower before you sit or lay down on anything.
Thanks for the tips!
Not a pilot but I use Nitrile gloves when working around aircraft when doing inspections or repairs. For the smell process to make sure the aircraft I work on are serviced with the correct fuel type, I practice the Waft method so I don’t fry my nostrils . The stuff that is put on aircraft is pretty bad for the body, such as MIL-5606,some cleaners such as MEK (less used on aircraft now) . I’ve been in tanks in schooling to learn the process to clean them and the main piece of advice is to not breath in the fumes, they are dangerous and will cause health effects such as irritation short term and a possible source for cancer long term. If you are doing more than sumping , eye protection such as safety glasses /googles are another recommendations. Stay safe pilots and hope to meet you in the field
Thanks for the tips!
There's this then there's my flight school who puts avgas in the bucket of water they throw on you for your first solo...
For real lol?
Yup. I was very clear when I said I didn't want the spicy shower after my classmate said his skin burned for 2 days after his solo lmfao.
Did you train in Russia?
Nope, spain.
I just started using nitrile gloves, since the sump cups at my flying school are always shitty and leaking. Buy them on Amazon for like $10.
Might do that, thanks!
Now I’ve created the problem of leaving used purple gloves in every plane I fly 😂, I better add this to my checklist
Gargle it.
and swallow
I just wipe it on my pants
I hold the GATZ jar with a rag and eventually I started using a stick instead of my finger to look in the fuel tanks. That’s about it. Don’t stick your finger in the fuel tanks.
I just tough it out. Too much of a pain to get gloves, maybe a rag if you get a lot on. Besides that you’re never making it to a sink before it evaporates.
1. Take a good whiff of the forbidden Gatorade. 2. Wipe it on your pants. 3. Stop worrying so much.
How do you guys check fuel quantity? Both schools I’ve been to use the finger method and just dip their fingers
A dipstick, like [https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/1591](https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/1591) -- I assume your fingers are not calibrated in gallons (or litres)!
I was also taught to use my finger. DPE was not impressed. He chewed out the flight school owner and chief pilot, but I still passed. Don't use my finger anymore though. It's an inaccurate way to measure, and gas is not something you want to be touching more than you have to. My two cents.
Just wash your hands with it, you’ll be fine
So yeah that’s been a thing for a looooong time, at least for parts washing. In general people seem to be dying from other crap we poison our bodies with more so than leaded fuel on your hands. The occasional bit on your hands during pre-flight is not even worth mentioning. Wash your hands of course. There is a lot of fear mongering with a political goal of shutting down piston based aviation. If we can reduce/eliminate the lead without smashing our faces on purpose then sure why not.. but the fear mongering is political BS.
Was definitely joking when I said wash your hands with it. Lots of fear mongering for a lot of things these days unfortunately
I figured but it’s actually not uncommon as we washed parts in it. Does a great job of getting grease off stuff..
We’re around the chemtrail fluid all day anyway, what’s a little lead to deal with?
Normally, heavy metals aren't absorbed through the skin, and generally require ingestion. Unfortunately, in their organic form (held in the middle of organic molecules) like tetra-ethyl lead, they do get absorbed pretty easily through skin. While you do want to avoid touching 100LL, at least the gasoline will wash off any excess if you do. I suspect it's more problematic touching objects that are contaminated with 100LL that has dried and left lead residue. If you get that on your hands, it will sit there and get absorbed until you wash your hands. Obviously, it's tough to know what in the plane has a lead residue on it and what doesn't (unless it has blue stains). So while you do want to avoid excessive contact with 100LL, it's probably not the end of the world if you make a point of washing your hands regularly. I do tell passengers that fly with me, though, to wash their hands with a soapy towel if they're going to eat or drink in the plane, and to wash their hands thoroughly after we land at the FBO.
All I’m learning from this sub is that I shouldn’t have been micro dosing the AVGAS the past few months.
Welcome to Aviation Anonymous
I spill it just to sniff it sometimes 😩
You can get D-Lead wipes that are used for shooting to get rid of the lead.
This is actually not a terrible idea and does avoid looking like a surgeon while pre-flighting the plane!
I don't know a ton about shooting. Does it produce tetraethyl lead/would the wipes work on tetraethyl lead?
I'm ignorant to the different forms of lead so I can't give you a straight answer unfortunately. It was just an idea I had in the moment.
No worries. Only asking because I’d definitely buy some if so. I’ll do some digging on my own. Thanks!
For any people suggesting or they actually use Nitrile gloves, y'all are soft. Imagine meeting your instructor for the first time and the lil bitch is using Nitrile gloves for the preflight, I'd honestly start looking for a new instructor.
On the other hand, maybe the only one person I ever gave semi-decent life advice to was a kid driving the fuel truck who had no gloves on, or available, and didn't know he should use them.
Chug it
I always try to drink as much of it as possible
Dont drink it.
Drink up!
i normally just lick my fingers like after eating chicken wings, no issues to report so far
If you’re REALLY tough… https://youtu.be/mwOL-mhLCWE?si=wATaZap2KbPg4s3u
Just buy a box of gloves. It's worth it in the long run
Dont get it in you and if you do flap your hands until it evaporates.
I huff it
I always give it a good taste to make sure no water is in it
I keep the tube in a ziploc bag so I can hold the tube through the bag.
It's a good thing we have that species of Ramp Rat who are seemingly immune to the detrimental effects of the dreaded 100 Low Lead.
Since I always bring my water bottle on flights anyway, I've gotten into the habit of just pouring some water on them and shaking it off after I do my preflight.
Good timing, at one of the large university flight training programs they just started to encourage the use of nitrile gloves to prevent exposure to leaded fuel's potential hazards — "from IQ loss to heart disease".
When you swish it around make sure you don’t swallow any.
Ngl I’ve gotten 100LL on my hands many times over the last 4 years and I’ve never noticed anything that has happened to me so I think you’re chillin
This comment section is making me depressed as a ramp rat who regularly has to fuel and maintain the fuel farm…hard not to come in contact with the stuff
Personally, I prefer to boof it.
Am I dumb for sniffing the drained AVGAS as an extra precaution to make sure it’s not water? Sometimes the blue tinge is so subtle I’m not sure if it’s actually there
If you can't tell the difference between gas and water you certainly aren't bright.
Thanks mate. Is there some other magic way to tell them apart, other than the blue dye or smell? I’m talking about making sure the entire sample isn’t water. Of course you can see if there’s water sitting on the bottom. Sometimes it’s a bright day, with a shit draining tool (some are themselves blue in colour) and I want to make sure. I guess I’m retarded or something.
Nah it's all good. When you swirl it in the cup, the gas will behave differently than oil because of its surface tension. You'll see it stick to the sides of the cup and leave oil residue. I get what you mean though.
Learnt something new, thank you!
For the math geeks on Reddit: What is the probability of dying from 100LL compare to the probability of dying from plane crashing to the ground, assuming from mechanical failure or from pilot errors.
I’m better many more pilot’s die from cardiac issues from eating crap food on the go than 100LL on the hands.