The hazards of lead in paint, pottery, gasoline and toys have been known for decades. But water managers were told last week that lead shot left behind by hunters on more than 687,000 acres of hunting grounds and wetlands owned by the South Florida Water Management District does not harm wildlife or the environment.
"The bottom line is there is not much shooting going on on district lands," Robb Startzman, chief scientist of the District's Land Stewardship Division, said at a workshop last Wednesday on the potential impact on hunters and wildlife. "There is no evidence to support adverse effects of lead shot on district lands."
The workshop echoed an international debate on the hazards of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. From bait and tackle shops in Florida to battlefields of Afghanistan, hunters, anglers, veterinarians, politicians, the military and the National Rifle Association are mobilizing.
Environmentalists see a ban on lead ammo and tackle as a logical extension of similar bans of lead in commonly used products, such as paint. A ban makes sense now because there are now safe, green alternatives, they say.
However, gun enthusiasts say bullet control will lead to gun control. Green ammo costs at least twice as much as lead shot and causes more suffering for the animals because it is not as lethal. Lead shot is already prohibited in hunting waterfowl and there is little research showing the small amounts of lead in ammo and tackle harm humans, wildlife or the environment, they say.
"I've swallowed eight or 10 sinkers in my life and it didn't kill me," said Don Coyner, a duck hunter, member of the National Rifle Association and biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"We do have some concerns. We're not hiding our heads in the sand," Coyner said at the workshop. "Seriously, if the science proves we need to make changes, the FWC will be the first to step up to the plate."
Lead is a naturally occurring metal found in all parts of our environment, but much of it comes from mining, manufacturing and burning fossil fuels.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body. Even in small amounts, lead can damage a child's physical and mental growth. In adults, prolonged lead exposure can cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles and can cause slight increases in blood pressure, particularly in middle-aged and older people and can cause anemia.
Just because there are not as many studies on the possible harmful effects of lead ammo and tackle does not mean there is no harm, said Rosa Durando, an 84-year-old environmentalist who for months pressed the board to study the lead shot issue.
"Twenty five years ago we heard the same discussion about mercury," said Durando. "You know too little about what happens to heavy metals in Florida."
The controversy over lead shot and tackle came to a head in August, when five environmental groups filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seeking a nationwide ban.
"Such regulations are needed to protect vulnerable wildlife species from the ongoing threat of lead poisoning, as well as to safeguard human health," according to the petition filed Aug. 3 by the American Bird Conservancy, the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Project Gutpile.
The groups attached nearly 500 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Among the studies' findings: Estimated densities of 11,000 lead pellets per acre in a field managed for dove hunting in Indiana. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Nontoxic Shot Working Group in 2001 estimated densities of 188,000 to 344,000 pellets per acre at two pheasant release sites in Washington. Over 122,000 pellets per acre in uncultivated fields near duck blinds in Missouri.
The groups said they waited to ask for the ban until non-toxic alternatives came on the market "to clearly indicate that this petition is not an attempt to regulate ammunition or firearms."
"All hunting and fishing gear containing lead could economically be replaced with non-toxic alternatives, thus making a strong argument for EPA-regulatory action," wrote Michael Fry, Director of Conservation Advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy in a letter to the Agency.
But the petition quickly landed in the crosshairs of the National Rifle Association, whose members saw it as a challenge to their Second-Amendment right to bear arms. Thousands of NRA members e-mailed comments to the EPA.
Hunters complained that non-lead ammo — made of steel, tungsten or bismuth — is expensive and causes more suffering for animals than the lead shot because it is less lethal. Anglers joined in, saying there was no scientific evidence proving lead sinkers and tackle are dangerous.