Five environmental groups have submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency urging the organization to ban lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. The groups claim that 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals that scavenge the carcasses of hunted prey die annually from eating lead-shot pellets and tackle left in the wild.
The environmentalists also want to protect people who consume meat from hunting expeditions, The New York Times reports. The petitioners argue that “it is now incontrovertible fact” that lead fragments in the bodies of animals shot with lead bullets or lead pellets are “a serious source of lead exposure to scavenging animals” and a health risk to humans who eat hunters’ kills.
The 100-page petition, filed Tuesday, cites hundreds of scientific studies that, the groups say, back up their claims.
“It’s long past time do something about this deadly — and preventable — epidemic of lead poisoning in the wild,” Jeff Miller, conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press.
The center and four other groups — the American Bird Conservancy, the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a hunters group called Project Gutpile — are asking the agency for a ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Of particular concern are scavenging animals such as bald and golden eagles and endangered California condors. Michael Fry, a wildlife toxicologist who directs conservation advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy, said that even sub-lethal levels of lead in raptors can be debilitating.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation told the AP that the petition is an “anti-hunting attack on traditional ammunition.”
“There is simply no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations that would require restricting or banning the use of traditional ammunition beyond current limitations,” said the group’s president, Steve Sanetti, citing the existing ban on lead in waterfowl hunting.
The EPA, which has 90 days to consider the petition, declined to comment.
