How Harmful is Lead in Venison? - Looking for Alternative Means to Kill Your Wild Game

Will eating venison or other wild game shot with a lead bullet make you sick? How much damage can lead bullet fragments cause if you eat them? Should people be overly concerned about hunting in current times?

While growing up in the early 1950s and 1970s, my family often ate cuts of venison, squirrel pie and squirrel gravy, wild pheasant, goose, and turkey. Since we processed our own meat from skinning or plucking to cutting it up and grinding, it was a given that you did not eat the meat that had been damaged by a bullet. The number one rule was to try to make a head or neck shot as often as possible, not only to kill the animal quicker but to have more of usable, undamaged meat. If a front shoulder was hit, that portion was discarded or used as food for the dogs and, heaven help you, if you shot anywhere else. No one wanted to eat a lump of bruised and bloody venison, let alone any bullets or bullet fragments that were there. Even so, there were regular complaints about picking shot out of the smaller animals and birds.

When a doctor found lead bullet fragments in a piece of venison, North Dakota's Department of Health (NDDoH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study (and the first of its kind) to measure the risk of lead poisoning ingested from eating ground venison in March 2008. It created a furor among many hunters, food pantries, and families that frequently ate home processed meat. This study, comprised of 738 volunteers from North Dakota, did find elevated blood lead levels in people who ate venison compared to those who did not. Though these levels were not considered dangerous, they did indicate the need to find out how widespread the problem was and if there were ways to minimize the risks of eating lead contaminated meat.

Food pantries in the state were told to throw out any ground venison and cautioned against accepting more from the Sportsmen Against Hunger donation program. Advisories were sent out in North Dakota and Minnesota warning against pregnant women or children under the age of six to eat wild game killed with lead bullets.

Lead poisoning can cause learning problems, seizures and convulsions, and in severe cases can lead to brain damage, coma, and death. It can also cause neurological damage in unborn babies. Lead is a soft metal with a half-life of more than 30 days in blood and several years if in bone. Any lead from any source that has been ingested or taken up in tissue would take that long to exit the body; unfortunately, any sustained damage is irreversible.

How did the lead get into the ground venison? Of course, a lead bullet was responsible for it being there in the first place since most ammunition used for hunting is made out of lead. Even so, the majority of the meat tested and found to contain lead fragments or traces of lead had all been ground venison processed mostly at commercial meat processing facilities. It would seem (to me) that the entire meat taken from a deer carcass was processed, including any damaged area. Because venison is processed and given back to the hunter, and is not going to be sold to the public, the process fell into a "custom exempt" category and inspections are not required. Although no illnesses have been linked due to eating lead contaminated meat, it is still something to consider.

Due to the study, letters were sent out to all the processing plants detailing the dangers of lead being ground into the meat during processing. New regulations are being considered involving the inspection practices to help keep the lead contamination under control. Hunters are being asked to use non-lead bullets, such as copper coated or all copper bullets because the chance of fragmentation is much less. Other alternatives may be rubber coated and plastic bullets. Hunters were also asked to be careful of where the placements of shots were made. No one has been told that hunting should be curtailed or eliminated. In fact, venison is a healthy source of protein, is low fat, and consumed by thousands of people every year.

Again, the problem still exists for smaller wild game. Many birdshot and buckshot shells also contain lead and can hold 8-27 large lead pellets. What about that squirrel you shot this morning? Or, the brace of pheasant currently residing in your freezer? Are they safe to eat? For bird hunters, one company is working to make a different kind of bullet. One product that will be environmentally safe and extremely friendly was invented by Brett Holm, founder of "Season Shot". He and his co-founders are looking to develop seasoned pellets that will kill at 45 yards and then melt in the oven when the bird is cooking. He plans to have them in Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic, Teriyaki, and Honey Mustard flavors. I think he should also consider making seasoned bullets, too. Venison "Smokehouse Peppercorn Jerky" and "Sweet Barbeque with Onion" flavors comes to mind.

Sources:

Lead in Venison

Lead from bullets could pose risk for game eaters

Lead Information for Hunters

Lead Information for Hunters - Tips for Hunters

Fall Followup: AN EVOLVING PERSPECTIVE ON LEAD IN VENISON

Season shot - Ammo with Flavor