Lead poisoning remains an issue in the outdoors BY MIKE RAHN
Lead is one of the most useful elements. It has been an essential in the batteries that store electricity and bring our car and truck motors to life, and it’s found in most consumer batteries that power flashlights, toys, portable radios and other necessities and conveniences. Lead has shielded medical personnel from harmful X-rays, is found in the finest crystal glassware, and - for decades - was an important additive in paint and gasoline. Given lead’s abundance, low cost and resistance to deterioration, it was once long ago a standard raw material for pipes used to plumb our homes and businesses. In outdoor sports, lead has long been the most common material used in rifle and shotgun ammunition for hunting and in weighted fishing tackle. Lead is also one of the most deadly elements. It is in a class called “heavy metals” and is a neurotoxin that can accumulate in bones and soft tissues, interfere with our body’s enzymes and lead to nervous system damage that results in cognitive, functional and behavioral 30 | 2021 LOVE OF THE LAKES
disorders. It is especially dangerous for young children and expectant mothers.
A HARD LESSON LEARNED IN WATERFOWL HUNTING
Lead can do crippling things to wildlife. The most high profile example is the lead poisoning of ducks, geese and swans that came to light in the 1980s. Birds were found to be dying after ingesting lead shotgun shell pellets that had accumulated on the floor of
shallow waters where waterfowl are hunted. Waterfowl mistook them for the gravel and grit their gizzards need to break up food during digestion. Gastric juices release lead salts from the pellets, and lead enters the bloodstream. If enough is present, the result can be loss of muscle control and digestive ability, emaciation, seizures and death. The widespread discovery of these effects in the 1980s led to the banning of lead pellets
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