Health and Environmental Risks from Lead-based Ammunition

Lead (Pb) is toxic and is banned from gasoline, paints, and various household items in most developed countries. Lead ammunition, however, is still widely used for hunting and shooting, and is now likely the greatest, largely unregulated source of lead that is knowingly discharged into the environment in the USA (Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in the Environment—A Consensus Statement of Scientists 2013; U.S. Geological Survey 2013). For decades, poisoning from spent lead ammunition was mainly regarded as a disease of waterfowl (Bellrose 1959), but it also puts at risk the health of raptors, scavengers, and other terrestrial species, including humans who frequently consume hunted game (Fig. 1). Scientists across North America and Europe have published consensus statements on the risks to wildlife, the environment and human health from the use of lead ammunition, and the need for its replacement by non-toxic alternatives (Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in the Environment—A Consensus Statement of Scientists, 2013; Group of Scientists 2014). This is now a pressing One Health issue.

...Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and increasing policy imperatives, nationally regulated bans on the use of lead shotgun and rifle ammunition are few. North American and European arms industries have developed non-toxic shot and bullets that are as effective and comparably priced as their lead counterparts (Thomas 2015). Our understanding of the deleterious impacts of this form of lead exposure on wildlife and humans will change little with further scientific research, no more evidence is required. The same rationales that were used to remove lead from gasoline, paints, and household items should be applied to lead-based hunting ammunition, nationally and internationally. This is now a socio-political issue.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5161761/

Gun ranges are notorious for their high levels of heavy metal contamination. And I know from personal experience that many gun enthusiasts go into pristine areas and spew lead and other heavy metals all over with no regard for the consequences. This is yet another reason to start controlling how much ammunition people can buy and how it gets used.

 

OK. I'll get on board with regulating the lead out of bullets as long as suitable alternatives are allowed. Solid copper and solid brass work pretty well, but last I checked those were illegal because they have higher armor piercing capability.

 

Good - it means people are buying, and shooting, plenty of ammunition.

 

I seriously doubt it because I have another contender that probably puts more lead in the environment....

You're familiar with lead wheel weights on automobiles right? I used to ride a bicycle everywhere I went years ago and I was constantly picking up lead wheel weights off the road to use for sling ammunition.

I even noticed that they had a particular life cycle. There was the brand new looking ones that just fell off and shortly after that they would get indents in them from being ran over and eventually they would break into two or three pieces and eventually those pieces get ran over more and they break down into smaller and smaller pieces finally accumulating in lead dust that washes directly into the storm drains.

So no one is being fooled by this argument you think if you can't ban the guns you'll just ban the ammunition

 

Having spent thousands of hours digging in this River here for fossils I have only found several spent bullets in all of that time. If it was so common I should be digging up bullets left and right.

 

So your logic is more is better? LOL! All sources are a problem. Having one doesn't make it okay to have more.

 

So we see here that most gun lovers apparently don't care if they destroy the environment. Spewing lead for fun is more important than anything else.

 

"Destroy the environment"?

 

Than yours? Yes, much more so.
If you had some argument to make you wouldn't have felt the need to cut out 85% of my post.

 

You cannot demonstrate that civilian ammunition expenditure is destroying the environment.

 

They haven't used lead in wheel weights for years. I reload and cast my own bullets and the tire shops were happy to let me take the old weights. I noticed the change about 20+ years ago.

Whats funny is the concern for the planet when it suits their agenda. The same people commute in their single occupancy vehicles, stop for environmentally unfriendly drive thru, and spray pesticides/herbicides on their pretty lawns. If gun owners follow the liberal strategy for protecting the environment, a "Save the Planet" sticker on every gun will do the trick!

 

You must be in a different state.

As you may know I work in a gas station that is also a full service mechanics garage. While steel wheel weights, are becoming very common.... There are still plenty of lead wheel weights.

Even the brand new ones that we get of our total of the stock that we work with about 2/3 is still made of lead. still very common here in Florida.

 

let me ask this question: your real motivation is:

1) you are actually concerned about the environment or

2) as a hard core anti gun advocate, you are examining every possible way to harass lawful gun owners

 

He doesn't like that gun owners vote against the politicians he supports

 

How do you feel about replacing lead bullets with copper or brass bullets that environmentally friendly but slightly more lethal vs body armor?

 

Like Barnes TAC-TX?

 

I mean more like replacing all FMJ rounds with lead-free, all-copper or all-brass rounds, for all calibers for all outdoor recreational shooting. 'Solid metal' rounds are available in hunting calibers due to thei increased effectiveness against large game, but generally not available and generally not legal in pistol calibers for example due to this same property making them more effective against police armor. Some decades ago when .357mag was a popular LE service weapon, Winchester (iirc) produced a solid copper .357 round for penetrating the engine block of cars in car chases. Every now and then a partial box of them can be found on ebay or gunbroker since original manufactures are still legal having been grandfathered in. They sell for ridiculous amounts of money despite being incredibly easy to just make because they are no longer legal to make. They would make outdoor shooting environmentally neutral if legalized and mass produced for all calibers.

 

Barnes makes solid copper pistol rounds, as does a company called American Copper Bullets.

https://americancopperbulletscorp.com/product-category/9mm-round-nose-115g/

 

I know.
We can switch all our ammunition to tungsten.
After you repeal all the laws against armor-piercing ammunition.

 

K, well I know they used to be illegal without proper liscensing because the ATF considered them 'armor piercing.' Is that no longer the case?

(google search is refusing to specify...)

 

I've no idea. I was surprised to find solid "FMJ" type bullets, too.

 

I figured it out.

18 USC 921
(17)
armor piercing ammunition” means— a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium;
or a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.

So regular copper is OK. Learn something new every day...

 

Why is that “good”?

 

More shooting = more practice.
Or more fun.
Or both.

 

To be trained and practiced. The GCAs keep telling us that this is a good thing.