Groups sue EPA over lead ammo, tackle

AP via SFGate ^ | 11/23/10 | FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press

[SmithL]

Three environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to force it to prevent lead poisoning of wildlife from spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the hunters group Project Gutpile. It comes after the EPA denied their petition to ban lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle, which the groups say kills 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals a year by lead poisoning.

"The EPA has the ability to protect America's wildlife from ongoing preventable lead poisoning, but continues to shirk its responsibility," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the EPA to develop rules to prevent wildlife poisoning from spent lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I meant a pH below 7.0.

[Sacajaweau]

My 100 little Christamas Lights, like most, are from China. It says to wash your hands after putting the lights on the tree because there's lead present.

My question...Why is lead even allowed??

[Steely Tom]

I'm not a chemist, but I do have a Masters Degree. In science!

Elemental (metallic) lead is not very soluble in water or in aqueous solutions having pH near seven (neutral). This is why they were able to get away with using lead pipe and lead utensils in ancient Rome. Let any chemistry happen with the lead though (like by storing acids, including fruit juices, in it) and lead salts go into solution. Many of these are water soluble and, for this reason, very bad.

There's pretty much no level of Pb that's benign in living organisms. It's a poison, period. It's particularly bad for children, but it has adverse effects on many biological systems. It's effects on neurological tissues are particularly nasty.

I think it's low solubility in water is the reason people are able to carry lead shrapnel around for decades with no ill effects other than discomfort.

If you google "lead poisoning" and look for the Wiki you will learn more about this subject than you need to know.

By the way, the "ancients" experimented with lead salts as a sweetener for a while. This period didn't last long. I think there is actually a lead compound called "sugar of lead." It's actually sweet.

[Osage Orange]

Best reply....

[Vaquero]

I have handled both lead and mercury for years.

I mold my own bullets and avoid breathing in the fumes by doing it in a well ventilated area, usually outdoors....

when I had a malady I suggested to the doctor that I should be checked for heavy metal in my bloodstream....he sent me to the lab for testing and found not even remote trace amounts.

It takes quite a bit of exposure to get sick from lead.

[1010RD]

Thanks and I saw the correction. So if a bird or small mammal, fish, etc. ingests lead will it remain inert as it passes through the alimentary canal or is retained as with birds?

[1010RD]

I grew up with and still have a lead water service supplying water to my home with no adverse effects.

What’s the science then behind these claims that lead is harming wildlife and/or children?

Is it just enviro hysteria?

According to what I’ve been able to find in the medical literature the effects can be terrible, but they’re rare and exposures must be very high and in young children for the most part.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The main problem with birds is the grit some species ingest to mechanically grind their food. It also grinds any lead they might ingest, breaking it down into smaller, more soluble pieces.

Fish don't have an actively grinding alimentary canal. It's just sort of a tube.

[Leo Farnsworth]

Ya. So? You think it's bad?

How many of the other elements that exist should we ban?

Greenpeace wants to ban chlorine - why have safe drinking water?

Ban lead - why have borders and safety when you cannot (by government law) protect yourself.

Ta-ta USA.

Lead is important to freedom.

[1010RD]

Did you see this post by Steely Tom?: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2632034/posts?page=83#83

Are you guys in conflict? I’m just trying to get the facts straight.

[Vendome]

Reference of Studies show and Experts say is also pure BS.

How much lead is left behind and how much would have to saturate an area to devastate the local census of animals or birds?

I don’t have the numbers but that would be a considerable amount of lead left behind and I don’t think there is a real way to quantify how much and extrapolate a significant number demonstrating effect of causal residue.

I have hunted and fished my entire life and yes, lead does get left behind.

But, does anyone honestly think an animal, bird or fish looks at lead and says “Yummy”?

When lead is shot and it becomes errant, it is usually embedded somewhere. Are animals actively looking for lead and prying it out of the bark of a tree or digging it up?

Animals know what food is and if they were dumb enough to eat lead as part of their diet, then they would be dumb enough to eat just about anything such as rocks, Black Widows, shards of glass.

Thing is animals are not dumb and they don’t waste their time eating low value bulk.

They actively look for their best opportunity to eat a substantial meal or get enough of a meal to get by.

Looking for lead is not going to get them to their next meal anymore than ingesting rocks would have any benefit to their survival.

Does lead end up in carrion? Sure, but really, how much of that goes on?

I don’t know a single hunter or fisherman that goes out just to shoot animals. There are some, I just know them.

Hunters and fisherman are the original environmentalists and take care to not over harvest or put things in the environment that would be harmful to the census of animals in a given area that is their favorite haunt.

They want to animals to thrive so they can come back season after season and enjoy hunting and fishing and eating their catch.

Kind of like fishing a pond. You just wouldn’t over fish it because you want big fish. There is a limit on how much you can take.

If those of us who hunt and fish thought there was problem we would address it and look for alternatives.

Fact is, there isn’t a problem and only invented studies with scewed FIFO’s that have a preconceived outcome anyway.

Kinda like GloBull warming. You can make up numbers, drop other numbers and even change the environment from where readings are taking place to achieve a preconceived outcome.

Is the study conclusive? Sure, it just isn’t honest and started with inaccurate information and is therefor not valid.

I have a follow up...

[1010RD]

OK, so it get’s ground down smaller, but why is it more soluble outside of an acidic environment?

Is the stomach acid in the birds sufficient to cause it to go to salt?

[Vendome]

Lead in Venison FAQ

Q: When did health concerns over lead in venison surface?

A: Health concerns over lead in venison were virtually nonexistent until March 2008 when Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck dermatologist and board member of the Peregrine Fund, informed the North Dakota Department of Health that he’d tested 95 one-pound samples of ground venison donated through state food pantries and found lead fragments in 53 of them.

At Cornatzer’s announcement, North Dakota and Minnesota actually disposed of thousands of pounds of venison destined for needy families. Iowa delayed distribution until it could do its own testing, then resumed distribution.

Cornatzer was on the board of directors for the Peregrine Fund, a group that had supported the ban on lead ammunition in California’s condor range. Cornatzer’s announcement was timed just weeks before the Peregrine Fund was set to hold a conference in May, entitled, “Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans.” Many felt the timing of his announcement was a deliberate attempt to draw attention to the conference.

Q: Do people become ill from eating venison taken with lead ammunition?

A: Hunters have eaten venison taken with lead bullets for hundreds of years. Yet there is not one documented case of lead poisoning from eating deer meat. Doctors are required to report all cases of lead poisoning to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), yet according to CDC public health advisor Kimball Credle, no cases have ever been traced to wild game meat.

Q: What studies have been conducted on lead levels in humans caused by eating venison?

A: At the request of the North Dakota Department of Health, the CDC tested blood lead levels in 738 residents of that state. Results were released in November 2008, and not one individual tested had levels considered elevated. According to the CDC, blood levels are considered “elevated” in children when they are above 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood; and in adults 25 micrograms per deciliter. The highest level in the whole CDC test was 9.8 micrograms per deciliter.

The geometric mean of the CDC study of 1.17 micrograms per deciliter was lower than the geometric mean of lead in the overall U.S. population (1.60 micrograms per deciliter).  More than 86 percent of the people in the CDC test reported eating more than one type of wild game.

The lead levels of children under 6, those who the Minnesota Department of Health deems "the most at risk," had a mean of just 0.88 micrograms per deciliter of blood.  That’s just one part per billion and less than half the national average.

Q: Has anyone other than the CDC conducted tests on blood lead levels in humans?

A: The Iowa State Department of Health has tested blood-lead levels since 1992, in 500,000 youths and 25,000 adults. They have not found one single case of lead poisoning from wild game.

 

Q: Why did Minnesota X-ray all the meat donated for its venison distribution program?

A: In 2008, Minnesota hunters donated about 25,000 pounds of deer meat for the state’s food sharing programs. Random testing of that meat conducted by the state’s Department of Agriculture found that 5.3 percent of the meat contained “lead fragments.” So even though 95 percent of the meat tested contained no lead, the state made a decision to round up all 25,000 pounds of the meat, ship it to the Twin Cities, and X-ray every bit of it before they distributed it to any food banks or get it to people who are hungry.

There are several problems with this decision:
• It cost the taxpayer about $6,000 to have the meat tested by an outside contractor. Not a huge amount, but certainly an unnecessary expense.
• It caused an unnecessary delay getting the meat to the families who needed it.
• It contributes to increased calls for restrictions or bans on lead ammunition. The Humane Society of the United States has called for a total ban on lead ammunition, and they are the most radical anti-hunting group in the country. A ban on lead ammunition would force hunters to buy alternatives (such as copper) which tend to be much harder to find, and ultimately cause some people to actually drop out of hunting.
• Non-lead ammunition is more expensive than lead.  In one online example, we found Winchester .270 130-gr. lead bullets selling for $18.99 for 20; a similar copper load—Federal’s all-copper Triple Shock Barnes 130-gr. bullet—sells for $44.99.
• Finally, this inconsequential random testing led Minnesota state officials to consider eliminating their venison donation program. That has two consequences: fewer hungry families will receive the lean, high-protein meals they’ve been getting, and fewer deer will be taken throughout the state. One of the things a venison donation program does is allow hunters to legally harvest more deer than they might be able to fit in their own freezer. Ultimately, this can have a bad affect on a state’s deer management.
• The testing decision also raises the question: Since CDC is the leading authority on public health issues, why is a state government agency ignoring it?
• While no nationwide figures are available, state Hunters for the Hungry programs generate tons of lean, nutritious deer to hungry American families. Wisconsin alone in 2007 collected 414,000 pounds, and Iowa collected 326,650 pounds the same year.

Q: Are other states eliminating Hunters for the Hungry programs because of lead issues?

A: No. Despite knee-jerk reactions over lead in venison by a few states, virtually all state DNRs publicly called on hunters to continue donating venison to Hunters for the Hungry programs.

Q: Has anyone actually called for a ban on lead ammunition, based on human health or other concerns?

A: Yes. Unfounded fears over lead bullet fragmentation, or ingestion by certain birds, have caused some to call for a ban on the use of lead ammunition. For example:

In 2007, California totally banned the use of lead ammunition for big game hunting throughout condor habitat in the state, and that prohibition took effect on July 1, 2008. In February 2009, the state Fish and Game Commission began considering a statewide ban on the use of lead ammunition. The commission also considered a ban on lead ammunition for small game and upland bird hunting in the state's condor zone but opted against that proposal by a 4-1 vote on Aug. 6, 2009.

California has pushed for these additional lead bans even though data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) shows that the state's existing lead ban has not reduced blood-lead levels in condors. Despite reports of nearly 100 percent compliance from hunters in the first year of the lead ban, a California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) report utilizing the USFWS data showed that improvement in condor blood-lead levels was almost negligible between the first six months of 2008 (pre-lead ban) and the second half of 2008 (post-ban). During the January through June 2008 time frame, 59 percent of the condors tested had blood-lead levels above what is considered a normal or acceptable background level. In the second half of the year from July through December, 45 percent of condors had blood-lead levels above normal. (Source: "Lead Ban Not Really Helping Condors," Jim Matthews, San Bernardino Sun, July 30, 2009)

In Washington State, SB 5095 would authorize the Fish and Game Commission to ban the use of lead for hunting anywhere in the state the Commission deems necessary. (Read an NRA-ILA alert on this issue by clicking here. The Washington State Dept. of Ecology has also issued a Lead Chemical Action Plan that paves the way to a lead ammunition ban. (NRA has submitted comments on that plan calling for the entire section on lead ammunition to be deleted.)

The Humane Society of the United States has called for a complete ban on all lead ammunition.

Minnesota State Representative Sandy Masin has announced her intent to introduce a ban or significant restrictions on lead ammunition.

In a Draft Position Statement, The Wildlife Society advocates the replacement of lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle use and production with non-lead products.

North Dakota’s Sportsmen Against Hunger Program began accepting only deer killed with arrows in 2008, but in July 2009 the program announced that it would resume accepting deer taken by hunters with traditional lead ammunition for the 2009-2010 hunting season. (Source: Grand Forks Herald, July 30, 2009)

In the spring of 2008 the Peregrine Fund hosted a symposium entitled, "Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans." Most of the speakers present advocated a ban on lead ammunition.

In January 2009, the  Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit, alleging that the Bureau of Land Management and the US Fish and Wildlife Service had violated the Endangered Species Act by allowing hunters to use lead ammunition in areas of Arizona where condors feed. In January 2010, NRA won the right to intervene in the lawsuit.  

In March 2009, the National Park Service (NPS) announced its intention to ban lead on properties it manages: "Our goal is to eliminate the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle in parks by 2010," said Acting Park Service Director Dan Wenk. (NPS made this decision without seeking public comment.) After heavy criticism from NRA and other hunting groups, the Park Service later said the ban would only apply to its employees and authorized agents, while leaving open the possibility of banning lead ammunition and fishing tackle by the general public on a park-by-park basis.

On Aug. 6, 2009, officials of Grand Teton National Park and National Elk Refuge issued an announcement asking hunters to voluntarily switch to non-lead ammunition for the 2009 elk and bison seasons.

In August 2009, the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife announced that it is requiring hunters to use non-lead shot when dove hunting on state wildlife areas for the 2009-2010 mourning dove season during the month of September, although the ban does not apply to dove hunters on private land.

On Oct. 14, 2009, as part of NRA’s continuing efforts to protect hunters from special interest groups seeking to eliminate the use of ammunition containing lead projectiles, attorneys for NRA filed paperwork in the United States District Court in Arizona, asking the Court to allow NRA  to intervene and join in the lawsuit Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau of Land Management et al (3:09-cv-08011-PCT-PGR).

The lawsuit, filed January 27, 2009 by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), alleges that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (BLM, FWS) are illegally mismanaging federal lands in Arizona because those agencies failed to consider the potential impact on local wildlife resulting from authorizing activities like off-road vehicle use and allowing livestock grazing.  CBD’s lawsuit also claims that California condors in Arizona are becoming ill or dying as a result of eating lead in scavenged game shot by hunters using lead shot or bullets, and that BLM and FWS are violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing hunters to use of lead shot and bullets while hunting.

In January 2010 the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks tentatively proposed banning lead shot for upland bird hunting on the state's 72  wildlife management areas. The department offered no justification for the ban, and indeed, FWP spokesman Ron Aasheim told the Billings Gazette, "There are no biological reasons to ban lead  shot on the areas, but people simply may not like it." The ban was voted down in February, by a margn of just one vote.

Utah’s 2010 Big Game regulations  (page 35) call for a voluntary, lead-free ammunition program. Citing alleged concerns about condors consuming lead fragments from gut piles left by hunters, the Utah Division of Wildlife and Utah Wildlife in Need joined together to offer coupons for one free box of lead-free ammunition for deer and elk hunters in certain parts of southwestern Utah.

In August 2010 the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) announced a campaign to ban the use of lead in hunting ammunition and fishing tackle. CBD  and other groups filed a petition with EPA calling for such a ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act--and did not limit it to "hunting ammunition." The petition asks to "ban the manufacture, processing, and distribution in commerce of lead shot, bullets, and fishing sinkers."  Responding in an NRA-ILA press release, ILA Executive Director Chris Cox said, "These  extremist groups are trying to ban bullets under a Federal law that specifically doesn't apply to ammunition."   Read the full press release on the issue here.

Q: What are the consequences of a ban on lead ammunition?

A: Restrictions or bans on the use of lead ammunition may ultimately drive people out of hunting. Non-lead ammunition can cost double what lead ammunition costs, and availability is much more limited. Reducing the number of hunters reduces the income generated by the sale of hunting licenses (the major source of funding for game and fish departments), has a negative impact on wildlife management, and imposes economic losses on hunting-related businesses.  In Minnesota alone in 2006, hunting-related retail sales totaled $637,270,173. Minnesota hunters also generated $75,882,194 in state taxes, plus $86,158,974 in federal tax revenues. 

In 2008, the first hunting season after California imposed a ban on lead ammunition in the state’s condor range, hunting license sales fell significantly after three years of steady gains. In the affected regions, the number of deer hunters dropped nearly 5 percent and hog hunters dropped 15 percent—costing the California Department of Fish and Game more than $200,000 in lost tag fees alone. (Source: "Ammo Rule Has Massive Impact," Jim Matthews, San Bernardino Sun, March 13, 2009 (http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_11903720)
 
Contributions to food banks will also suffer. For example, donations to Minnesota’s food bank program fell off dramatically. Hunters donated 2,000 deer in 2007, compared to 675 in 2008. Although no decision has been reached yet, Minnesota state officials are considering terminating the venison donation program, which would deprive thousands of needy families of lean, protein-rich meals, not to mention make it more difficult for the state to reach its deer management objectives.

Q: What guidelines should I follow when handling or processing deer?

A: There are common sense guidelines anyone can follow:
• Cut away all shot-damaged meat.
• Cut away a generous portion of meat around the wound channel.
• Don’t attempt to wash away lead fragments—it may just spread them more.
• Studies show that ground venison may contain more lead fragments than whole cuts of meat.
• Wash hands, face and clothing after shooting or reloading ammunition.
• Pregnant women and children under six have been cautioned not to ingest any lead at all for years. Avoid cooking venison in acidic sauces (wine, vinegar, lemon).

[Steely Tom]

I grew up with and still have a lead water service supplying water to my home with no adverse effects.

Yes, and lead solder used in copper plumbing systems as well. This is why our parents used to tell us not to drink hot water straight from the tap. Most (but not all) chemicals are more soluble in hot water than in cold, and lead is no exception.

The lead that kids ingest is overwhelmingly from paint; when added to paint, lead compounds make the paint apply smoother and stick better. They also make it fungus-resistant. Lead in paint was banned in the early 1970s, at least in paint intended for residential use. I think they still use it on big things like bridges and the hulls of ships, but I'm not sure.

Lead was added to paint in the form of water-soluble salts, (lead chromate or lead carbonate). It was also used for quite a while as an insecticide for produce, particularly apples. It was actually used in the form of "lead arsenate," an unbelievably toxic compound of lead and arsenic. There are orchards in North Carolina (and elsewhere) that are still contaminated with this stuff.

Another huge source of lead was leaded gasoline. This had a small amount of a compound called "tetraethyl lead" added, in the ratio of 1:1260 by volume. This put a few grams of lead into the atmosphere with each gallon of gasoline burned in the nation's automobile fleet (and airplane fleet too). I believe the lead in the exhaust was in the form of finely-divided metallic lead, but I'm not sure about that. I have read, however, that there are street corners in major cities like New York City where the soil under the sidewalks contains as much lead concentration as the soil that immediately surrounds lead smelting plants near mines.

The use of lead additives in automobile fuel was banned in the seventies, as I'm sure you know.

[Vendome]

Here is a shortened version of a study and the results:

 

72 birds out of a census of 34,000? Uhm, underwhelmed.

 

Further yawning is caused as those numbers where delivered over an 11 year period with Necropsies yielding the following results: Ingestion of lead artifacts (shotgun pellets or fishing sinkers) accounted for about 20% of the known mortality.

 

In western Washington, the incidence of lead-induced mortality was higher and accounted for nearly 50% of the known mortalities So 72 birds were examined over 11 years? And yet their census grew?

 

The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

 

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=370&m=0 I can do this all day long.

 

It's like saying we are decimating the woodlands of American when in fact there are 10-12% more trees in America, than when Europeans first landed. Something about conservation and sustainable inventories that renew. But, what do I know. I read to much.

 

I will post one more.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I found this

I don't have any expertise in this particlur area, I just have a chemistry degree.

[Vendome]

LOL, these morons don't even approach sophmoric levels of conscious incompetence.  They are in a whole other class.

 

Again,72 birds out of a census of 34,000?

 

Uhm, underwhelmed.  Further yawning is caused as those numbers where delivered over an 11 year period with Necropsies yielding the following results:

 

Ingestion of lead artifacts (shotgun pellets or fishing sinkers) accounted for about 20% of the known mortality.

In western Washington, the incidence of lead-induced mortality was higher and accounted for nearly 50% of the known mortalities.

 

How many birds comprise the 50% mortality found in Western Washington? 

 

Other causes of mortality in swans include gunshot, disease and traumatic injuries (impact).  What was the percentage of cause for the last three categories?

 

Again, 72 birds were examined over 11 years? And yet their census grew?

 

 

From Bird Life International:

 

 

 

The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure).

 

Other causes of mortality in swans include gunshot, disease and traumatic injuries (impact).

 

 

LC	Trumpeter Swan  Cygnus buccinator

2010 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Least Concern

Justification This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Family/Sub-family Anatidae

Species name author Richardson, 1832

Taxonomic source(s) AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Population estimate	Population trend	Range estimate (breeding/resident)	Country endemic?
34,000	unset	1,380,000 km2	No

Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Cygnus buccinator. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 28/8/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

It's like saying we are decimating the woodlands of American when in fact there are 10-12% more trees in America, than when Europeans first landed. Something about conservation and sustainable inventories that renew. But, what do I know. I read to much.

 

But wait!  There's more!

 

This from the U.S. Dept Fish and Wildlife

 

http://library.fws.gov/Bird_Publications/trumpeterswan_pop00.pdf

 

U.S. Dept Fish and Wildlife concluded in February 2001:

 

Collectively, a total of 23,647 swans were counted, which is about 3,900 (20%) more than in 1995 and 20,000 (535%) more than in 1968.

 

Each of the three populations grew to record high levels in 2000.

 

 

So we find in 2000 there were 23,647 swans counted by U.S. Dept of Fish and Wildlife and 10 years later, in 2010, Bird Life International concluded there were approximately 34,000.

 

That is an increase of some 30%!

 

It should be further noted in the areas cited in your original abstract(first discussed above) the Pacific Northwest the U.S. Dept of Fish and Wildlife that the population grew, except in one area.  The Tri-State region has ebbed and flowed on census numbers.  There is no reason given and it appears the population is increasing,

 

Population		Flock		1968	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000
Rocky Mountain		Interior Canada2		106	131	379	614	1,117	2,076	3,184
		Tri-State2		585	537	485	507	589	364	426
		Restoration Areas		120	131	111	74	41	77	56
		Rocky Mountain		811	799	575	1,195	1,747	2,517	3,666
1Estimates for 1968-1990 were sums of estimates reported for individual areas in appendices 1, 2, and 3 of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service et al. (1994); estimates
from 1995 were from Caithamer (1996).
2Estimates reported in 1975 were obtained in 1974 or 1975.

 

Is there a "correlation" to Lead poisoning and the death of some birds?  Sure, but not extant to EPA studies or demands and it is not a leading impediment or a significant burden on mortality nor on population growth.

 

 

[Leo Farnsworth]

Man-up, dude!

Lead is not killing us - EPA regulations (and hysteria) is!

Get a grip, old man.

Be a man.

Who says lead was so bad in gasoline? (hint: the environmentalist lobby - they actually do not care about you or your body).

In the near future when LL100 is banned (aviation gasoline with trace amounts of lead) by this out of control government small businesses and small farms/ranches will be decimated.

Airplane engines designed to produce 350 HP at 20,000 feet will no longer produce 350 HP - perhaps 250 HP and they will need to be TDO’d much more frequently.

It's easy to spend $100,000 on an aircraft powerplant which uses gasoline. Let's make it worse, and even more expensive - because it's for the children...

Literally, MAN-UP and understand you are being fed a crock of bull!.

[driftdiver]

There some on here. I’ve spoken with a MD who was helping a local range fight the ‘lead’ battle.

Evidently lead ends up oxidizing (or something like that) which seals the lead off from the environment. So the idea that lead will leach into the water or affect animals is not good science.

[metmom]

Just like DDT.