The Hog Blog

Are there negative health consequences when we ingest lead particles from our game meat?   

That’s a real good question, particularly in light of this recent storm of publicity based on the discovery by a North Dakota hunter of miniscule lead fragments in his venison, and the subsequent actions of the North Dakota Department of Health to recommend that food banks to stop distributing hunter-killed venison.  You can read more about this in the Bismark Tribune’s article. 

The question is also one of the main topics to be discussed at the Peregrine Fund’s May 12-15 conference in Boise, Idaho.  The conference is titled, Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans. 

Those of us who’ve been following the condor and lead-ban issue will recognize the Peregrine Fund as one of the leading voices in the debate, both in CA and in AZ.  While the Fund’s membership roster includes many “avid hunters”, many people opposed to the lead ban are taking a more skeptical position on anything that comes from this group.  However, a good bit of their research is indisputable, especially when it comes to understanding how much lead a bullet leaves in an animal’s carcass. 

This x-ray is one of several taken by researchers, that shows the dispersion of lead fragments in a deer’s body after the shot.  Notice how the many tiny fragments are spread through the meat?  If you examine the meat around your next kill, you can see a lot of this with the naked eye.  There’s even more, though, that you can’t see.  There are several more photos available on the Peregrine Fund website.

So it’s pretty hard to argue with the fact of the matter, that lead particles DO get into the meat we eat.  Which brings us back to the question, is it harmful to us?

There doesn’t appear to be any conclusive evidence that eating wild game that was killed with lead ammunition presents a health risk to humans. 

The MSDS (material safety data sheet) for lead suggests a “slight” risk due to ingestion of lead.  Other sources, such as Wikipedia, indicate that ingestion of lead particles presents a very minor risk of lead toxicity, particularly in adults.  Children do seem to be more susceptible to poisoning from ingested lead, but even then, the primary threat is lead-based material such as paint and gasoline. 

I read, a while back, a study done in Canada on the First Nation Cree in the Western James Bay Region, who lived a subsistence lifestyle, primarily eating wild game meat.  There was some increased incidence of lead toxicity, but the statistical validity of the data was not very solid.  The study was also focused on children, and as far as I can tell there were no adults included in the research.  You can read the entire paper here, but it’s a scientific research document and quite lengthy.  This paper was often cited during the push to ban lead shotshells.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see it resurface in the wake of this latest dust-up.

Another article suggests a risk, but doesn’t provide any support or research describing how high the risk may be.  It states:

Embedded fragments of metallic Pb from shot disintegration are a potential source of dietary Pb exposure for predators, and for human consumers of wild game, especially in communities that rely on subsistence hunting and for whom hunter-killed wild game represents a major food source. This risk can be eliminated by the use of non-toxic shot for hunting.

Personally, I’ve been eating wild game that was killed with lead ammunition since I was a small child.   These days I eat wild meat two to three times a week, and until recently all of my hunting (except waterfowl) has been done with lead ammo.  Many of my friends and the majority of my relatives down through generations have done the same.  None of us have shown any health issues related to lead toxicity.  But I can’t deny the possibility of risk to the younger generations, which is one of the reasons I’ve been voluntarily adopting the lead-free ammo. 

The threat posed to humans from lead ammunition is actually much higher at the shooting range than at the dinner table. 

The most publicised danger here comes from lead’s absorption into the groundwater, and eventual contamination of waterways and water supplies.  Of course shooting ranges aren’t the only source of this contamination, but one-by-one, these other contaminants, such as leaded gasoline, are being removed.  Efforts are underway to understand and mitigate the impact of lead ammo at the range, but as I’ve mentioned before, this is the biggest threat to the shooting sports and lead ammo… much larger than the California Condor.

Lead dust from bullets, and the lead stabilizing agent that is in almost all cartridge primers also present substantial threats… moreso in indoor ranges than outdoors.  This risk has prompted OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) to develop and distribute a guideline for building and managing indoor shooting ranges. 

Bottom line, I suppose, is that there are risks inherent in the use of lead ammunition.  The severity of those risks is still a question, but there’s enough evidence to suggest that more research is needed. 

There’s also enough evidence that my basic position on lead ammunition remains steady.  We need to phase it out.  It’s the right thing to do.  The CA lead ban was overkill, poorly thought out, and even more poorly implemented, but in the long run I do agree that we need to get rid of lead bullets.  We also find a way to replace the lead in primers and powder. 

For those naysayers out there, I’d propose the following:

If there’s the least possibility that the continued use of lead ammo could pose a risk to your children, is it right to ignore that possibility?  For their welfare, and that of their children, isn’t it worth the time and effort to investigate… and to move away from known toxic substances?

If the hunters and ammo makers out there worked together proactively, a reasonable approach to the phase-out of lead ammo is a realistic goal.  And if we don’t work together, then we can only blame ourselves when the various government agencies start taking it away from us altogether.

Is lead ammo dangerous to people?  Maybe.  But it’s becoming more and more dangerous to the sport of hunting.

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