Posted on 03/04/2009 11:51:38 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
(CNN) -- Three years ago, Phillip Loughlin made a choice he knew would brand him as an outsider with many of his fellow hunters:
"It made sense," Loughlin said of his switch to more environmentally friendly ammo, which doesn't contain lead. "I believe that we need to do a little bit to take care of the rest of the habitat and the environment -- not just what we want to shoot out of it."
Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.
But greener alternatives are gaining visibility -- and stirring controversy -- as some hunters, scientists, environmentalists and public health officials worry about lead ammunition's threat to the environment and public health.
Hunting groups oppose limits on lead ammunition, saying there's no risk and alternatives are too expensive.
The scope of the trend is difficult to measure. Americans spent an estimated $1.08 billion on ammunition in fiscal year 2008, according to tax reports from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. But the bureau does not track ammunition sales by type.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
You don’t know the half of it. I work in the electronics industry. ALL parts must now be certified “lead free”. Solder which is historically, since the Middle Ages, 60/40 Tin/lead alloy is now verboten. The lead was removed from paints years ago. The reason lead was in the paint was so it would last longer and weather and bacteria resistant. Lead in batteries was the reason small motorcycles and dirt bikes for youngsters were recently pulled from showrooms across the country. Lead is in stained glass windows and fine crystal ware. Lead is being considered to be the boogy man where people have no intelligence....................
Bet you are right. And even they cannot prove this will be effective....so why is this even a story, especially a “Planet in Peril” special?
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.
There are some pretty tough ceramics out there today but I suspect they cost several times what it costs to make conventional projectiles.
Course we all realize this isn’t really about green ammo or protecting wildlife.
Just as stupid as this woman was.................
I'm willing to switch from lead to depleted uranium
I am willing to stop buying newspapers because it kills trees and causes Co2 depletion.
Hmmm.... Get rid of newspapers and we get rid of global warming.
Works for me.
Let’s all go to hell and add some mercury in the hollow tips.
Maybe somebody will come up with an nice, bright green lube coating.
...”60/40 Tin/lead alloy is now verboten”
I’ve kinda been out of electronics (do people actually FIX or BUILD anything any more??) for about ten years.
If one goes and buys solder, now, today, what’s the composition, do you know?
I remember when they went after Bush for the Arsenic in the water. They’re freaking Elements!
Don’t lick the bullets. Sheesh.
Back in my day green ammo was frangible.
I would suggest bullets made from recycled paper, perhaps even dampened for added density. When you hit a duck with “green” spitwads, he’s not going to know what to do!
Bravo Sierra
Metallic lead is insoluble in body-temp HCl. Unless one’s stomach is at 100°C, it will not enter the bloodstream if ingested.
Copper, on the other hand...
There are lots of reasons that lower the alledged IQ of any person.
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