Research Articles and Information
Articles and info about the impacts of lead on people:
- Half of U.S. population exposed to adverse lead levels in early childhood, PDF published March 7, 2022 in PNAS
- Lead ammo in hunted meat: Who's telling hunters and their families?, Environmental Health News, 25 February 2020 (83 KB PDF)
- Health and Environmental Risks from Lead-based Ammunition: Science versus Socio-Politics, EcoHealth, December 2016 Volume 13 Issue 4 (551 KB PDF)
- Hunting Ammunition and Implications for Public Health, University of Minnesota Food Policy Research Center Issue Brief (112 KB PDF)
- Human health risks associated with eating wildlife killed with lead ammunition (147 KB PDF)
- North Dakota study that examined the association between blood lead levels and wild game consumption (217 KB PDF)
- As adults age, bone deteriorates and stored lead can be released back into the blood stream possibly causing high blood pressure, kidney failure, stroke, and/or Parkinson’s Disease. Whole-Body Lifetime Occupational Lead Exposure and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease (506 KB PDF)
- Neurotoxicity and aggressiveness triggered by low-level lead in children: a review (135 KB PDF)
- Iowa Department of Public Health Bureau of Lead Poisoning Prevention
- Lead Shot in the GI Tract (297 KB PDF)
- Lead exposure and educational proficiency: moderate lead exposure and educational proficiency on end-of-grade examinations (514 KB PDF)
- Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in the Environment: A Consensus Statement of Scientists (190 KB PDF)
- Potential Hazard to Human Health from Exposure to Fragments of Lead Bullets and Shot in the Tissues of Game Animals - This 2010 UK published study x-rayed wild-shot game birds to determine the number of shot and shot fragments present, and cooked the game using typical methods. Shot were then removed to simulate realistic practice before consumption, and lead concentrations determined. (685 KB PDF)
Wildlife Impacted by Lead:
Research and info about the impacts of lead on wildlife:
- Lead Poisoning in Bald Eagles Admitted to Wildlife Rehabilitation Facilities in Iowa, 2004-2014 Eleven years (2004–2014) of bald eagle data from four independent, state and federally permitted wildlife rehabilitators in Iowa were assessed for the prevalence of elevated lead levels in blood or tissue samples.
- What did the data tell us about the lead exposure to bald eagles in Iowa?
- The data gathered by wildlife rehabilitators in Iowa on lead exposure in bald eagles are consistent with datasets from many other rehabilitation centers.
- Adult bald eagles had higher lead concentrations than immature or juvenile bald eagles, consistent with data on rehabilitating bald eagles (Cruz-Martinez et al. 2012) and data from bald eagles found dead (Franson and Russell 2014).
- Lead concentrations were highest across all age classes during the autumn (October–January), which coincides with the hunting and trapping seasons in Iowa.
- Wildlife rehabilitators routinely collect blood samples from bald eagles admitted. Prioritizing blood collection for a blood lead analysis in bald eagles can help direct care.
- Demographic impacts of lead poisoning for eagles across North America - Abstract only from 2022 article in Science; led by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Conservation Science Global, Inc., and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, researchers evaluated lead exposure in bald and golden eagles from 2010 to 2018.
- Understanding Lead Uptake and Effects Across Species Lines: A Conservation Medicine Based Approach; presented at The Peregrine Fund "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference (435 KB PDF)
- See A Review and Assessment of Spent Lead Ammunition and Its Exposure and Effects to Scavenging Birds in the United States. This review focuses specifically on scavenging avian species exposed to spent lead via foraging habits. (1,548 KB PDF)
- US Geologic Survey "Lead Poisoning in Wild Birds" (1,304 KB PDF)
- The Wildlife Society position statement on lead, June 2022 (42 KB PDF)
- University of Minnesota Raptor Center information on lead poisoning
- High Risk of Lead Contamination for Scavengers in an Area with High Moose Hunting Success Study from researchers at University of Quebec and Environment Canada (282 KB PDF)
- Bald Eagle Lead Exposure in the Upper Midwest - Read about research conducted in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding area, Published in The Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management Volume 5 Issue 2
- Lead Exposure in Bald Eagles from Big Game Hunting, the Continental Implications and Successful mitigation Efforts (746 KB PDF)
- Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans Conference Proceedings (The Peregrine Fund, 2009)
- Bald Eagle Lead Poisoning in Winter; Abstract presented at The Peregrine Fund "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference (689 KB PDF)
- Lead from spent ammunition a source of exposure and poisoning in bald eagles - Researchers from the University of Minnesota Raptor Center and the University of Calgary conducted a case-control study of 1,277 bald eagles admitted to TRC between January 1996 and December 2009. The study sought to determine whether epidemiological data would support the hypothesis that a possible source of lead exposure for bald eagles was lead-based ammunition used for deer hunting. Statistical evidence relates spent lead from ammunition to lead exposure and poisoning in eagles. Also, the study shows an association between eagles with elevated lead levels and deer hunting season. Published in: Human–Wildlife Interactions 6(1):94–104, Spring 2012 (461 KB PDF)
- The persistent problem of lead poisoning in birds from ammunition and fishing tackle, published in The Condor: Ornithological Applications, July 2014 (1290 KB PDF)
- Impact of the California Lead Ammunition Ban on Reducing Lead Exposure in Golden Eagles and Turkey Vultures (342 KB PDF)
- Washington State University study: looking at 18 years of data on lead poisoning of eagles (5,624 KB PDF)
- Bullet Fragments in Deer Remains (303 KB PDF)
- USFWS Mourning Dove Population Status 2010 (1,379 KB PDF)
- Ingested Shot and Tissue Concentrations in Mourning Dove; Abstract presented at The Peregrine Fund "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference (381 KB PDF)
