Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Idaho study confirms lead fragments in venison

Idaho study confirms lead fragments in venison

May 14, 2008 - 04:05:57 CDT

By JOHN MILLER
Associated Press Writer

BOISE, Idaho - An Idaho raptor group working to eliminate lead from ammunition has released study findings that it says show ground venison from 80 percent of 30 deer killed with high-velocity lead bullets contains metal fragments.

The Peregrine Fund, based in Boise, and researchers from Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., say it is further evidence people who eat meat from game animals shot with lead bullets risk exposure to the toxic metal.

Separately, the North Dakota Health Department and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are planning a study on nearly 700 people who eat meat from wild game harvested with lead bullets, to determine health risks, if any.

The suggestion that lead bullets could make venison unsafe for humans has prompted outrage from pro-hunting groups such as Safari Club International, of Somerset, N.J., and the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry group, after North Dakota and Minnesota in March and April instructed food banks there to pull hunter-donated venison from their shelves.

"It's hard to keep lead out of butchered meat," said Grainger Hunt, a scientist with The Peregrine Fund who worked on the study, which focused on 30 white-tailed deer killed by standard, lead-core, copper-jacketed bullets fired from a high-powered rifle. "They left lead in 80 percent of those deer we brought in. We found that people who consume venison often consume lead."

Hunt declined Tuesday to comment on the specific health implications - the study didn't cover that. Further work by epidemiologists will have to determine that, he said.

Lead poisoning has been linked to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and death. There is no safe level of lead in blood.

The Peregrine Fund organized a four-day conference at Boise State University to bolster its stand against lead ammunition, with more than 50 scientific presentations on lead poisoning in wildlife and humans, including research on Inuits in Alaska and Russia who practice subsistence hunting.

The study released Tuesday comes after a Peregrine Fund board member, Dr. William Cornatzer of Bismarck, N.D., did CT scans of about 100 packets of venison that had been donated to food banks by hunters. He found 60 percent had multiple lead fragments.

Lawrence Keane, a National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman, said he had not seen the latest study.

But he said initial evidence supplied by Cornatzer, a dermatologist and professor at the University of North Dakota medical school, didn't justify a policy change or destruction of venison. Groups, including Safari Club, gave nearly 1 million pounds of venison in 2007 to food banks as part of their humanitarian efforts.

"The Peregrine Fund is an advocacy group and has an agenda," Keane said. "We have serious questions with the so-called science by the dermatologist. It's my understanding there's not a single reported case that the CDC is aware of, of anyone having elevated blood lead levels from eating game harvested with lead ammunition."

Rick Kelley, assistant director of the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory where Cornatzer's samples were sent by North Dakota for some testing, said he feared venison was destroyed prematurely. He said more study is needed before public policy changes are made.

"I have a concern with the way that people respond to the results of that study," Kelley said. "In at least one location, they landfilled all the deer meat."

North Dakota Department of Health epidemiologists said the agency's planned study with the CDC will investigate whether there are any health risks for people, by attempting to determine whether eating wild game harvested with lead bullets results in increased blood lead levels.

"This study is an important opportunity to help us understand whether swallowing lead bullet fragments causes increased levels of lead in the blood," said state Health Officer Terry Dwelle.

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Comments

anthony canales wrote on May 14, 2008 4:53 PM:

" Previous studies have been done on the lead issue, with blood lead levels not exceeding 16.9 ug/dL after daily consumption of ducks/eiders shot with lead shot by Inuits in Greenland. This is more food presumably consumed by condors during limited hunting seasons that could theoretically have some kind of quantity of lead in them. Lead levels do not meet the treatment requirement of CDC. This study, "Lead Sources in Human Diet in Greenland" by Bjerregaard et al (2004) can be found at- http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1247612
"

Razors Edge wrote on May 14, 2008 2:57 PM:

" Deb,

I agree with your statement some what. The problem we have today is lobbyists. The "green movement" loves to say "That was funded by big oil". On the other hand you have MSN and the like pushing "green technologies" when they are owned by GE. Who has to benefit? Both do, and it's people like us in the middle who are left out in the cold.

As for the venison goes I come from a hunting family. We kill elk, deer, antelope, birds, turkeys, fish, etc. every year. We are all fine. On the other hand when the meat is blood shot we don't eat that part. But that's just common sense to me. "

Hey Tom wrote on May 14, 2008 2:28 PM:

" Not just cows:)!!! "

Gun totin fool wrote on May 14, 2008 2:25 PM:

" Deb, Dr. Cornatzer is also on the board of directors of the Peregrine Fund. That group has an agenda to eliminate all lead in ammunition. The fact (yes, I'll admit it's a fact) that he found lead particles in some venison does not mean that it's dangerous to consume any and all venison harvested with normal bullets. He has an agenda, and he has his methodology and science to promote it now. I eat venison at least 3-4 times a week, and have for several years. I shot all of it with lead bullets too. I want to have my blood tested for lead levels. If I don't have higher than normal levels, Bill's theory is out the window. If I do, I'll stop in his office and thank him for bringing this to the public's attention, and start pulling bullets from my several hundred hand-loaded rounds and replacing them with non-lead bullets. We'll see what happens, huh? I'll keep ya posted, cuz. "

Tom wrote on May 14, 2008 1:30 PM:

" New study just released.. there is urine in the river too... evidently cows are to blame. "

Deb wrote on May 14, 2008 12:08 PM:

" I love when non-scientists question the work of scientists - specifically, doctors. I'd trust Dr. Cornantzer over some spokesman for a hunting group anyday. "

Gun totin fool wrote on May 14, 2008 10:43 AM:

" Thanks! I found the info: Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health @ 500 E. Front Ave. Fri., May 16 and Mon., May 19 through Fri., May 23...8 a.m. 12 p.m. & 1 p.m. 5 p.m. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) proving that proper care of your wild game harvest can put the whole lead scare to bed for good.
"

Please find out wrote on May 14, 2008 10:06 AM:

" Hey Gun totin fool, I found an article on the in-forum (Fargo Forum's website) that lists times in Fargo for the blood testing. Their article mentions that testing will be done...here is the info: "Researchers are looking for people who eat wild game often and those who dont. Participants must be at least 2 years old. The interview and blood test will take about 10 minutes. There also are testing sites in Bismarck, Jamestown, Grand Forks, Minot and Dickinson. For more information, call (701) 328-2372 or see www.ndhealth.gov. "

"

Microbiologist wrote on May 14, 2008 8:16 AM:

" I stated it in an earlier communication. "The true test of potential hazard is not the lead in meat, but what is the blood level found in those that eat the meat?" What Dr. Cornatzer did was not a scientific study. It was not a controlled study that he conducted. He of all people should know that and should not be furthering his own agenda as a member of the Peregrine Fund. "

Gun totin fool wrote on May 14, 2008 7:44 AM:

" I would like to volunteer to be tested for this study being done by the ND Health Dept. and the CDC. If there's anyone who would have elevated lead levels in his blood from the consumption of lead-shot wild game, I'd be a prime suspect. My wife and I harvest 4 deer annually and rarely ever buy meat of any kind at the grocery store. The vast majority of our meat diet at home consists of venison. Does anyone know who I can contact to volunteer? If I don't have elevated lead levels, then this whole thing is just a case of Chicken Little crying about the sky falling. "

tremendous idiots wrote on May 14, 2008 7:26 AM:

" I think the first sentence of this article sums up the motivation of this raptor group.

I wish there was such concern, when 1,000,000 million workers in the industrial coatings industry were exposed to 100x the lead back in the day.

Oh yeah that's right, people don't matter, silly me. "

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