Gunshot Wounds: a Source of Lead in the Environment

Abstract

Ingested lead shotgun pellets and rifle bullet fragments have been shown to be an important source of lead poisoning in water birds, raptors, avian scavengers, and even seed-eating birds. Ingestion of spent lead shotgun pellets by waterfowl and secondary ingestion by Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) scavenging on waterfowl led to the change of hunting regulations that prohibit the use of toxic lead pellets for waterfowl hunting in the United States. However, bullets containing toxic lead are still widely used to hunt large game animals and "varmints" and are a source of lead in the environment available to wildlife.