Encyclopedia of Earth: Lead shot from hunting as a source of lead in human blood
This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Peter Hughes (other articles)
Lead shot is still widely used in bird hunting, although it has been banned in some countries. It is documented that whole shot pellets eaten occasionally may result in increased lead exposure and intoxication in humans. However, not only whole pellets will remain in tissue from species killed by lead shot. High lead concentrations have been attributed to the presence of lead fragments 1-2 millimeters (mm) in length to very fine dust and were judged to be the result of the disruption of lead shot pellets upon collision with bone. Thus tissue may become contaminated with high concentrations of lead through this mechanism as found in Canada and Greenland. This means that lead shot contamination of birds may a significant source of lead in the diet of people exposed. In some cases safe limits of human lead intake will be largely exceeded. As illustrated in the figure, a single bird meal of eider may result in a lead intake close to the tolerable weekly intake.
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