I know we have a lot of hunters out there who enjoy the sport and the ability to provide food for their families. In our family we love to fish and enjoy eating and sharing our catch.
It seems that there are plenty of hunters, though, who are upset by the latest push for green ammunition which started a couple of years ago.
It seems that there are plenty of hunters, though, who are upset by the latest push for green ammunition which started a couple of years ago.
To many it may just feel like another assault by the left-wing, fringe to take away one more bit of freedom. Why replace what has worked forever with a much more expensive eco-body friendly version of ammo?
I hear you and I have felt some of those same things in the past; i.e. still not sure if I believe we are the cause of Global Warming...does it exist...oh relax! But one thing I know, taking a few minutes out of your day, to learn about both sides of the environmental debate, will help us all.
Take a look at this info From the CNN article titled, "Should Hunters Switch to 'green" bullets"?:
"In North Dakota, a hunter has raised concerns about lead's potential impact on humans.
Dr. William Cornatzer, a dermatologist and falconer, saw a presentation about the potential dangers of lead at a board meeting of the Peregrine Fund, a group devoted to conserving birds of prey. He decided to collect and test venison samples that were going to be donated to a local program for the hungry. About half of the 100 samples -- all shot by hunters -- tested positive for lead, he said. Food banks and shelters pulled the meat from their shelves after the report.
"When we did this, I about fell out of my shoes," he said. "The scary thing is these fragments are almost like dust in the meat. They're not like metal fragments you would feel when you bite down."
States in the area started investigating the issue after Cornatzer's findings.
Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North Dakota Department of Health ran a test to find out the health effects of lead-shot game. The agency compared blood-lead levels of people who regularly eat meat shot with lead bullets with the levels of those who don't eat much wild game.
The results were inconclusive. Those who ate the lead-shot meat had slightly higher blood-lead levels than those who didn't, but none of the 738 people in the study had levels above the government's threshold for danger.
Still, the health department recommended that children younger than 6 and pregnant women stop eating venison shot with lead bullets because those groups are at particular risk for lead poisoning, even at low levels.
The department also recommended lead-free bullets as the simplest solution to possible contamination.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources followed with its own study, which found that when lead bullets explode inside an animal, imperceptible particles of the metal can infect meat up to a foot and a half away from the bullet wound -- farther than previously thought.
More research is needed to tell for sure if lead-shot meat poses a risk to people, said Dr. Steve Pickard, an epidemiologist at the North Dakota Department of Health. But until that research is done, people should take sensible precautions, he said.
"There is no cause for alarm, but it is another source of lead in the environment," he said of lead ammunition."
Dr. William Cornatzer, a dermatologist and falconer, saw a presentation about the potential dangers of lead at a board meeting of the Peregrine Fund, a group devoted to conserving birds of prey. He decided to collect and test venison samples that were going to be donated to a local program for the hungry. About half of the 100 samples -- all shot by hunters -- tested positive for lead, he said. Food banks and shelters pulled the meat from their shelves after the report.
"When we did this, I about fell out of my shoes," he said. "The scary thing is these fragments are almost like dust in the meat. They're not like metal fragments you would feel when you bite down."
States in the area started investigating the issue after Cornatzer's findings.
Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North Dakota Department of Health ran a test to find out the health effects of lead-shot game. The agency compared blood-lead levels of people who regularly eat meat shot with lead bullets with the levels of those who don't eat much wild game.
The results were inconclusive. Those who ate the lead-shot meat had slightly higher blood-lead levels than those who didn't, but none of the 738 people in the study had levels above the government's threshold for danger.
Still, the health department recommended that children younger than 6 and pregnant women stop eating venison shot with lead bullets because those groups are at particular risk for lead poisoning, even at low levels.
The department also recommended lead-free bullets as the simplest solution to possible contamination.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources followed with its own study, which found that when lead bullets explode inside an animal, imperceptible particles of the metal can infect meat up to a foot and a half away from the bullet wound -- farther than previously thought.
More research is needed to tell for sure if lead-shot meat poses a risk to people, said Dr. Steve Pickard, an epidemiologist at the North Dakota Department of Health. But until that research is done, people should take sensible precautions, he said.
"There is no cause for alarm, but it is another source of lead in the environment," he said of lead ammunition."
The entire article can be found by clicking the title above.
No comments:
Post a Comment
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead