Study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

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Study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

Updated Thu. Nov. 6 2008 1:59 PM ET

The Canadian Press

BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets.

The recommendation is based on a study released Wednesday that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents. Those who ate wild game killed with lead bullets appeared to have higher lead levels than those who ate little or no wild game.

The elevated lead levels were not considered dangerous, but North Dakota says pregnant women and children younger than 6 should avoid eating venison harvested using lead bullets.

Those groups are considered most at risk from lead poisoning, which can cause learning problems and convulsions, and in severe cases can lead to brain damage and death.

The study, conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state health department, is the first to connect lead traces in game with higher lead levels in the blood of game eaters, said Dr. Stephen Pickard, a CDC epidemiolgist who works with the state health department.

A separate study by Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources previously found that fragments from lead bullets spread as far as 18 inches away from the wound.

"Nobody was in trouble from the lead levels," Pickard said. However, "the effect was small but large enough to be a concern," he said.

Pickard said the study found "the more recent the consumption of wild game harvested with lead bullets, the higher the level of lead in the blood."

Officials in North Dakota and other states have warned about eating venison killed with lead ammunition since the spring, when a physician conducting tests using a CT scanner found lead in samples of donated deer meat.

The findings led North Dakota's health department to order food pantries to throw out donated venison. Some groups that organize venison donations have called such actions premature and unsupported by science.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081106/wild_game_081106/20081106?hub=Health
 
Holy Sh**. Here we go now.Everything else we eat and drink is poison so why not ruin the dream that wild game is the healthy alternative. I'm definately going for the head shots from now on.
 
That is such a crock of #### I can't believe it, there is no f***king way lead from a single bullet will contaminate meat from a deer or anything else. First off almost all bullets retain 90% or higher of their weight now days and a good percentage of the time pass right through the animal, also the bullet usually comes into little contact with the areas that are used for food. The vitals are tossed, so in a text book shot, there would be LESS than 1 square inch of meat that actually touches the bullet for a fraction of a second. This Dr. Stephen Pickard needs to be kicked in the head and then sued for spouting such complete non-sense. He is no scientist what so ever if he thinks this study is worth the paper it is printed on. Did they ever stop to think maybe the animals have higher lead content from the water they drink??? Or maybe that people living in rural area may have higher lead content in their water???? To draw this conclusion that it is from bullets is ridiculous...What a f***ing idiot!
 
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Ski911 said:
That is such a crock of s**t I can't believe it, there is no f***king way lead from a single bullet will contaminate meat from a deer or anything else. First off almost all bullets retain 90% or higher of their weight now days and a good percentage of the time pass right through the animal, also the bullet usually comes into little contact with the areas that are used for food. The vitals are tossed, so in a text book shot, there would be LESS than 1 square inch of meat that actually touches the bullet for a fraction of a second. This Dr. Stephen Pickard needs to be kicked in the head and then sued for spouting such complete non-sense. He is no scientist what so ever if he thinks this study is worth the paper it is printed on. Did they ever stop to think maybe the animals have higher lead content from the water they drink??? Or maybe that people living in rural area may have higher lead content in their water???? To draw this conclusion that it is from bullets is ridiculous...What a f***ing idiot!
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You might want to check out a very extensive study untertaken by the Minnesote MNR before you do too much head kicking....the results may surprise you....I know they did me.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/lead/index.html

We used to paint our children's toys with lead based paint.....insulate our home with asbestos.......run our drinking water through lead pipes.....guess none of that was hurting us either. I don't think anyone is saying don't eat wild meat....just that pregnant women and kids should be careful....makes sense to me.
 
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They need to test the MEAT from the area where the bullet contacted the animal against the areas where it had no contact, not including the vitals!!! Lead would be stored in higher concentrations in vital areas such as the liver, kidneys and brain. testing done in any other manner is worthless, as there is no possible way to confirm the origin of the lead. Also as MauserMike pointed out, lead level would be higher in avid shooters than non-shooters.
 
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The study is quite valid as is the one Sheephunter posted. However, the recommendation against small children and pregnant women is called "playing it safe". Like alcohol NO ONE is going to ever say that there is any kind of safe level of lead for a pregnant woman. The vast majority of pregnant women COULD have a couple of drinks a day and could ingest the minute amounts of lead they are talking about here with no ill effects to the baby. But there are exceptions to that and the government and doctors must cover their ass just like they've done with the bisphenyl A in plastics.

The study itself says that such low levels of lead are unlikely to cause problems.
 
Ski911 said:
They need to test the MEAT from the area where the bullet contacted the animal against the areas where it had no contact, not including the vitals!!! Lead would be stored in higher concentrations in vital areas such as the liver, kidneys and brain. testing done in any other manner is worthless, as there is no possible way to confirm the origin of the lead.
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I see you took the time to read the study....ugh.........:confused::confused::confused:
 
I'm almost sure the water service pipes coming into our home are made of lead. Therefore my family and I will eat venison and not worry about loosing our marbles and lopping off an ear or something of the sort.
 
I don't know guys.... I had a look at the report, but I have a hard time swallowing all of it. There could be some contamination but to be able to actually pick up the minuscule amount of lead that could be left behind in blood tests in humans, seems like stretch to me.
 
Ski911 said:
I don't know guys.... I had a look at the report, but I have a hard time swallowing all of it. There could be some contamination but to be able to actually pick up the minuscule amount of lead that could be left behind in blood tests in humans, seems like stretch to me.
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Ummmm. Lead dissolves slightly in water (or blood). So fine particles of lead in the meat would leach lead molecules into the fluids of the meat. You cook and eat the meat and pick up the lead. Also lead particles smaller than a grain of sand would not be noticed by the average diner and their stomach acid would do an even better job of leaching away lead particles.

You get lead in your body if you drink wine from lead crystal glasses too BTW (not that I drink from lead crystal much -- the bottom half of the Scooby Doo sippy cup is more my style.)
 
I agree a load of anti-hunting crap.

What they aren't saying is how much better wild meat is compared to hormone injected domesticly raised animals.
 
Camp Cook said:
I agree a load of anti-hunting crap.

What they aren't saying is how much better wild meat is compared to hormone injected domesticly raised animals.
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Camp, it was a study about lead contamination in meat....nothing more and nothing less. I've yet to read anywhere that it was suggested that eating wild meat is bad for you or that we should stop hunting. As for your anti hunting conspiracy theory, the study on contamination was done by the Minnesota MNR who is very pro hunting. Each year we learn more about environmental factors that effect our lives and some of those factors may pose a risk to young and unborn children.

Humans are a funny creature. We have a 50% chance of contracting cancer but none of us ever believe it will happen to us but we got out and buy lottery tickets with 14,000,000:1 odds and expect to win.

If anything, this study demonstrated some ways to lessen lead contamination in meat so we can continue enjoying the consumption of wild meat and our children can too. I'm all for playing it safe with young and unborn children....I guess others aren't.

A quick look back through history and I'm certain you can find a thousand things that we used to expose our children to that we wouldn't think of doing today.
 
The data was very interesting. I usually use Sierra Gamekings for deer, but I think I might switch to Barnes. I was skeptical when I heard the news, but the online presentation from MNR was well done and informative. We love game meat and will continue to eat it. However, if I can improve the safety or quality of the meat I feed my family I will do so. The MNR did say that further studies need to be done in terms of food safety. However, buying one box of Barnes bullets for making a deer load isn't a big deal.
 
I had a bottle of mercury spill in the back of my car about 20 years ago and I didn't realize it until after a few weeks of driving in the hot sun. No ill effects.























Except for the snakes! I can't get them OFF of me!
 
It looks like bone fragments as well in the pictures they show not all lead particles. I'd wager most of the particles are in meat we trim off. Still healthier than store bought meat :).
 
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