How contaminated with ammunition-derived lead is meat from European small game animals? Assessing and reducing risks to human health

Abstract

Small game animals are generally hunted with lead gunshot which often fragments causing elevated lead concentrations in meat and presenting health risks to frequent consumers and vulnerable groups. We reviewed three decades of European data on lead concentrations in the meat of gamebirds, rabbits and hares across countries with various restrictions on lead gunshot use. Mean meat lead concentrations decreased to a low level in Denmark, the only country in the study with a total ban on lead gunshot use. In contrast, elsewhere in Europe meat lead concentrations increased over time, an unexplained and previously undescribed finding. The only regulatory restriction associated with a decrease in meat lead concentrations was the Danish total ban on lead gunshot use. We calculated an arithmetic mean lead concentration in small game meat of 5.205 ppm w.w. (2011–2021) from across Europe. EU and UK regulators are considering banning lead ammunition for all hunting to protect human and wildlife health. The mean value we found for small game meat (2011–2021) was fourteen times higher than that used in a recent EU-wide risk assessment.

Lead contamination in Australian game meat

“…The vast majority of samples (86%) also exceed the food standards maximum levels of contaminants threshold level of 0.1 mg/kg w.w. (Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 2017 ). These results fall within the range of values reported from gamebirds and small mammals killed with gunshot in Europe (Pain et al, 2022 ). As all harvested and retrieved stubble quail are consumed by humans, the continued use of lead gunshot may present a health risk to consumers, especially frequent consumers and groups particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead, especially children (Hampton et al, 2022c ).…”

“…There is no level of exposure to lead known to be without harmful effects in humans (World Health Organization, 2022 ). In recent years, recognition of the health risks posed to certain human consumers by residues from lead-based ammunition in meat from wildlife species (game meat) has grown rapidly worldwide (Pain et al, 2022 ; Thomas et al, 2022 ). Dietary exposure to lead from ammunition also poses health risks to domestic animals such as hunter’s dogs (Fernández et al, 2021 ) and wildlife, including scavenging or predatory species (Pain et al, 2019 ) and waterfowl.…”

Further investigation of lead exposure as a potential threatening process for a scavenging marsupial species

“…Contemporary research has implicated lead‐based ammunition as one of the most significant sources of anthropogenic environmental lead around the world 3 . Studies analysing game meat (meat derived from wildlife) have demonstrated that the use of lead‐based ammunition can contaminate carcasses 4 . This has led to concern regarding the numerous species of wildlife known to scavenge from wildlife shot with lead‐based ammunition 2 …”

“…3 Studies analysing game meat (meat derived from wildlife) have demonstrated that the use of leadbased ammunition can contaminate carcasses. 4 This has led to concern regarding the numerous species of wildlife known to scavenge from wildlife shot with lead-based ammunition. 2 In wildlife, the consequences of exposure to spent lead-based ammunition have been most extensively studied in avian species.…”

Highlighting the risk of environmental lead contamination for deer management in Australia

“…2021; Pain et al . 2022). The scale of lead pollution via this route is considerable in Australia with several species of native and introduced mammals commonly shot.…”