Lead is toxic to people and wildlife.
Only a very small proportion of lead gunshot fired will hit its target. The remainder of this ‘spent’ lead gunshot spreads into the environment where it can be ingested by birds that mistake it for food or for small stones that they eat to help them grind food in their gizzards. Ingestion of spent lead gunshot is well known in many species of waterbirds, for example, ducks, geese and swans. Lead fishing tackle is also frequently lost during use and affects birds in the same way as lead gunshot and bullets, if ingested. In addition, some contemporary fishing practices encourage the deliberate release of lead sinkers to water (called ‘dropping the lead’).
After ingestion, lead gunshot, sinker or lure is rapidly ground down into small particles, which speeds up the absorption of lead in the birds’ bloodstream. In some cases, this can result in death or in sublethal effects. Ingestion of a single lead gunshot is enough to kill a small waterbird. This route of exposure is called primary poisoning.
In addition, scavenging or predatory animals (including birds) inadvertently eat fragments of lead that are in the tissues of their food. This includes cases where lead fragments are present in the discarded internal organs of large game left behind by hunters after ‘field dressing’, or where predatory animals eat other animals wounded by lead ammunition or those shot for pest control. This is called secondary poisoning and is also known to frequently cause lead poisoning in wildlife.
ECHA estimates that at least 135 million birds are currently at risk of lead poisoning each year from ingesting lead gunshot. Also, 14 million birds are at risk from eating animals shot with lead ammunition and 7 million from ingesting lead fishing tackle.
Furthermore, spent lead projectiles from sports shooting can contaminate the soil and water in and around the shooting ranges leading to a variety of risks. One example is poisoning of cattle, if the shooting area is used for agriculture.
Health risks to people
Exposure to lead is associated with a wide range of negative health effects, including reduced fertility, cardiovascular diseases, developmental effects in babies and children, damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure and cancer. Lead is especially harmful to children's neurological development. ECHA estimates that in any given year about one million children are vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead due to game meat consumption.
People are exposed to lead mainly through two routes: inhalation and ingestion. Hunters and sports shooters can breathe in lead fumes and dust while shooting. Hunters and fishers can also inhale toxic fumes if they melt lead to prepare homemade bullets and fishing tackle. Such activity may also put other members of the household at risk.
Exposure to lead through ingestion happens while eating game meat hunted with lead ammunition. Recent research suggests that game hunted with lead ammunition can contain microscopic fragments of lead, which cannot be removed during the preparation of meat. The practice of ‘cutting away’ and discarding meat from around the wound channel, or removing visible lead fragments, is not sufficient to remove all lead. Ingestion may also happen through hand-to-mouth exposure when manipulating lead gunshot, projectiles or fishing sinkers and lures.
Based on the clinical evidence of risks to children and pregnant women, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recommended that exposure to lead from both dietary and non-dietary sources should be reduced.
Any reduction of lead exposure through food will reduce risks to people’s health, particularly for children and pregnant women. Several food agencies in EU Member States already advise their citizens to eat game hunted with lead in moderation. For example, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) advises the general public not to eat game killed with lead ammunition more than three times a year and that children and pregnant women should not eat game meat hunted with lead ammunition at all.
There is no evidence that eating fish caught with lead tackle will result in exposure to lead.