I would look at the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) site here I have handled lead type many times over the years and know at least one Linotype operator who is ok but OSHA is strict and the Shelburne Museum in Vermont where I work has a Linotype machine which OSHA insisted be rendered inoperable. Of course it could be a fire hazard too as it is in a wooden building. But of course I think the person you met offered a good tip which most would follow.
Jordan

It's not a big deal. You definitely don't
have to wear gloves. Just don't chew on it.

hhp

Handling solid lead isn’t dangerous for adults, even over decades, but you should still wash your hands when you finish and not eat while you handle the stuff. Lead is only a health hazard if inhaled or ingested—which is why wallpapers with lead pigments killed so many people, and why children who grow up around peeling lead paint suffer problems with brain development.

Never met a fellow tradesmen displaying health afflictions from lead exposure. 'Spirits' yes, lead no.

Wash your hands before eating, follow with liberal applications of booze is the key.

Giampa

I still have a Linotype and a Ludlow in my hobby shop. I have worked with metal type since 1942. The only type man I knew had a cancerous growth was Richard Hoffman. The rest of my mentors died of cirosus of the liver.

I worked as a hand compositor for twenty years, day in, day out. At 61 I've been away from daily exposure to lead for nearly twenty years. I'm pretty healthy, and no doc has suggested any ailments I ever had may have come from lead. Back in those days I admit to holding a lot of Monotype sorts between my teeth. I also had pretty bad habits as far as hand-washing at lunch time. The first ten years or so that I worked in the trade it was also common for comps and pressmen to wash their hands with gasoline and other harsh solvents pretty regularly.

I know one man in well into his 70s who's been dealing with lead type (and inhaling its fumes) for probably 50 years. He's the picture of health. Another man I know collapsed after only a few years working as a comp. His doc told him it was lead. The doc said my pal's bouts of impotence were also related to lead poisoning.

Among many variables we have to consider innate factors in any individual's makeup and health. I may develop something nasty in years to come that can be traced to lead. Or I may get carpal tunnel syndrome from 18 years at a computer. Or I could fall off my bike on the way home tonight.

At the SHARP conference in 05 a scholar presented a paper about the health of Baltimore printers in the late 19th century; he was specifically interested in lead. I'll see if I can find a www ref and post it.

Tonight I will drink several toasts in prayer for the continued good health of all of you.

powers