Federal American Eagle rounds are filthy

Let me start by saying I’ve shot tens of thousands of rounds of Federal American Eagle target ammo in various different calibers and bullet weights. I’ve never seen something like this. I got 1,000 rounds of 124 grain 9mm from target sports USA and the ammo is….odd. The packing was not crushed or seemed to be damaged in anyway, no signs of water damage or improper storage or shipping, nothing.

The ammo is oddly off color, darker overall than normal in appearance. It also has strange black marks in the tray and on the rounds themselves. The worst part is my hands after loading a few magazines. I mean look at them! What is going on? What is on these rounds? I called federal and they said “oh it happens from time to time, it’s safe to shoot” to their credit, they did offer me a refund if I sent all the ammo back, but since it shot fine, I decided to just keep it.

Does anyone know what is on these things? Powder? Carbon? Graphite? Why are these things so filthy?