Every year, humans intentionally leave tons of lead in nature by using it as a common material in ammunition, endangering humans, animals, water, and soil. It’s time to stop this harmful and unnecessary practice!
The nature of Velebit is threatened by global changes and local factors that can be influenced rewilding, but humans directly cause some threats and can be stopped literally overnight, requiring only goodwill. One such threat is lead ammunition.
Lead is a heavy metal that has no biological function and is toxic to all animals and harmful to human health. There is no safe level of lead exposure, meaning that even a small amount of this metal ingested into the body can have negative health consequences. Our body has no need for lead, but stomach acid is very effective in breaking down lead fragments from ammunition. The use of wine and vinegar in food preparation further enhances lead absorption.
Withdrawn from fuel production, but not from hunting ammunition
Lead as a material has been withdrawn from the production of various items such as paints, fuel, and pipes, but it is still used in hunting ammunition. Unfortunately, lead ammunition is still commonly used, with the use of lead-free alternatives – while they have proven to be equally effective – still rare.
The sheer numbers of lead ammunition usage are concerning, if not alarming. When speaking of Croatia, according to CBS data, over 200,000 animals are shot annually, mostly with lead ammunition. We can add unsuccessful shooting attempts here, and some ammunition is also used at shooting ranges, quickly reaching hundreds of thousands of rounds fired in nature in Croatia each year, mostly lead. Ammunition varies in weight from calibre to calibre – rifle ammunition usually weighs from 3.24 grammes to 18.5 grammes, while shotgun ammunition ranges from 20 grammes to 36 grammes. At the European Union level, it is estimated that 44,000 tons of lead end up in nature each year from hunting, sports, and fishing. The UN estimates that most human-derived lead in nature comes from ammunition.
A lead bullet can break into hundreds of small fragments, partially leaving a large and visible trail of toxic lead fragments as it penetrates tissue. Some lead fragments from ammunition are invisible to the naked eye. Lead-free bullets, on the other hand, open upon impact like lead bullets, but remain in one piece, leaving a clean trail without contamination.
Lead from ammunition harms virtually everyone –hunters and their families, especially children and pregnant women, hunting dogs, scavengers, and other consumers in the ecosystem. Chronic poisoning is a problem that is difficult to detect and extremely difficult to eliminate.
Lead is toxic to humans and animals
The first signs of poisoning in humans occur at just 5 microgrammes per decilitre of blood. Once it enters the body, lead spreads through multiple organs – the brain, kidneys, liver, and bones. Lead accumulates and remains in teeth and bones and can negatively affect multiple bodily systems and functions, including the nervous, immune, and reproductive systems.
Symptoms are numerous: headache, insomnia, dizziness, lethargy, depression, memory loss, mood changes, reproductive disorders, vision impairment, hallucinations, decreased appetite, hearing loss, taste changes, tremors, pain, slowed reactions, poor coordination, weakness, weight loss, fatigue, discomfort – the list is both serious and long.
Children are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of lead. Lead that enters a young organism can have a profound and lasting effect on brain and nervous system development and can affect intelligence development and IQ level. An additional problem is that children absorb lead much faster than adults.
In dogs, the first signs of poisoning occur at just one milligramme of lead per kilogramme of animal weight, meaning that a 15-kilogramme dog that has ingested 15 milligrammes of lead will experience poisoning symptoms after just 10 days. At 300 mg per kilogramme, acute poisoning with fatal outcome occurs.
Towards a point of no return
In scavengers, the particular danger lies in feeding on animals shot with lead ammunition, which can cause nervous system damage, and in severe cases, paralysis and death. A well-known case is the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), where lead from ammunition ingested through food caused the mortality of over 50% of individuals.
Lead that ends up in soil and water is attractive to various birds such as waterfowl, which will eat it. The rest of the lead gradually decomposes and is absorbed by plants and soil, thus ending up in the wider food chain.
The entrails, skin, and body parts of shot wild animals are separated and removed, but that lead does not disappear; it can re-enter the wildlife and human ecosystem. The most dangerous thing is that by constantly introducing lead into nature, especially lead shot, we are increasing the proportion of this dangerous heavy metal in our environment every year, on surfaces where we produce food. Although these concentrations in nature are still relatively low at the moment, over decades, current trends will see levels rise to such an extent that lead becomes ubiquitous in the environment, and there will no longer be a way to remove it.
A simple solution
A very simple and quick solution is to switch to lead-free ammunition. Ammunition workshops have demonstrated their effectiveness compared to lead ammunition. The results of surveys on lead and lead-free ammunition conducted among hunters in the Gospić and Jablanac areas showed that hunters are aware of the potential dangers of using lead ammunition and believe that stopping the use of lead ammunition is an indispensable step in the development of hunting. The price difference compared to lead ammunition – lead-free is currently about a third more expensive – is hardly a decisive factor, especially considering that the price of ammunition is only a fraction of the total costs. The effect of withdrawing lead ammunition, however, is invaluable – preserving health of people, hunting dogs and wild animals, as well as an environment free from unnecessary yet toxic substances.
Text: Kruno Bošnjaković
Expert associate: SRLECT Vedran Slijepčević