Skip to main content

NSSF: Study on Game Meat Skips the Science

Op/Ed From the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

NSSF: Study on Game Meat Skips the Science

Photo courtesy of NSSF

It’s hunting season and that means it’s also time for the pseudo-science cautionary news articles claiming traditional ammunition is a health threat. Don’t believe them.A recent piece in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology describes an analysis of metal fragments in game meat. This weak research report is clearly part of an ongoing effort to reject the CDC’s blood lead level thresholds and assert that there is no non-dangerous level for humans. Despite hundreds of years of evidence that it is safe to consume game meat taken with traditional ammunition that contains lead components, anti-hunting groups argue that the potential for metal fragments to remain in game meat poses a threat to humans.

The analysis published in the Bulletin is thin at best. The authors used a very small sample of only 10 deer. And, while the research assumes that “the number of deer being sampled was equal to the number of deer submitted by the hunters for processing,” there is no evidence to support this extrapolation.

A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study of blood lead levels in North Dakota hunters validates what hunters have always known: consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition containing lead does not pose a human health risk.

The average lead level of the hunters tested was actually lower than the blood lead level of the average American, including non-hunters.

The average lead level of children in the study was only .88 micrograms per deciliter of blood; the CDC’s level of concern for lead in children is 10 — more than 10 times the amount found!

The difference between participants who ate wild game harvested with traditional ammunition and non-hunters was only .3 micrograms — a clinically insignificant number.

‘Potential’

The study involved radiograph imaging of their game samples to find “potential metal fragments” based purely on appearance. This technique is fraught with error, as the imaging cannot reveal what the potential fragments actually are. Rather than metal, they may have been bone fragments. The notion that tiny pieces of lead can disperse widely through dense flesh is dubious at best.

Even with the small sample, and the flawed use of imaging, the results show that most of the packets did not contain suspected fragments. According to the report,

“Thirteen of the 27 ground venison packets (48%) from shotgun-harvested deer contained at least one metal fragment…In packets from shotgun-killed deer that contained metal fragments, the number of fragments ranged from 1 to 3,” again not showing a vast disbursement of fragments.

Further eroding the methodology, the authors note that, “Due to budgetary limitations, not all suspected particles could be analyzed. Seven suspected metal fragments from six packets were chosen for chemical analysis because they originated from a single deer via a single commercial processor.” This means that out of the 10 deer the samples came from, only samples for one single deer from one processor was tested to see whether it was lead.

Shifting Standards

Recommended


When this small sample was tested, the report found, “The elements copper, manganese and lead were below detection in 93.9%, 10.2% and 79.6% of the analytical subsamples, respectively. At least one subsample from each sample had a detectable quantity of lead.” These underwhelming results are far from a persuasive argument against the use of traditional ammunition.

The authors seem to agree, stating that “An average serving selected randomly from any one of our packets (shotgun-harvested, commercial processor) would be predicted to have lead concentrations within the range from BD to 8.42 μg g−1, or a dose from~0.00 to 4.4 mg of lead in one serving.” Despite the small, cherry-picked sample from a single deer and processor, the analysis still found that a serving of meat from that deer could have a dose of 0.00 mg of lead.

In the authors’ discussion of other literature on this topic, they note that there are studies that have found even less lead exposure from game meat. The authors argue against averaging lead concentrations across an entire animal, as other researchers have done, although that “may be a statistically more rigorous measurement of lead concentrations…” They argue that their less rigorous measurements better estimate the actual ingesting of one or more fragments.

It is easy to dismiss such thin research in an academic setting. But unfortunately, the study made it into the news,  further promoting the flawed results. In the news article, the authors equivocate metallic lead shot with other sources of lead such as paint chips, without any mention of the fact that metallic lead is not as easily absorbed by the body. At the very least, the researcher quoted acknowledges that he does not know how much of these fragments would actually be absorbed by adults. Although, he inexplicably leaps to an argument that children would “take up about half the lead they ingest into their body” with no research cited in the article or in the study itself for that assertion.

NSSF encourages the media and hunters to carefully read studies that attempt to disparage the consumption of game taken with traditional ammunition. For more information about valid research on this topic, see a review online here.

Hunter, while evaluating studies, should also follow sound field dressing practices, including trimming around the would channel, to reduce potential exposure.

GunVote2020
NSSF graphic

#GUNVOTE 2020: Help Drive Voter Registration

NSSF is urging all industry businesses to download and display NSSF's #GUNVOTE® icon on their company websites and incorporate #GUNVOTE messages in their social media campaigns.

National Shooting Sports Foundation aims to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers nationwide.




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Dryshod Evalusion Hunt Boots Keep Whitetail Hunters on Top of Their Game

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Lew's Custom Pro Gen 3

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Other

Light up the Salt

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Fishing

Caring for the Catch

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Fishing

Snook on the Hook

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Guns

TriStar Cobra III Field Pump Super Compact .410

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Federal Premium Freight Train Copper Sabot Slug

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Fishing

Saltwater Setup

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Fishing

Jacks to the Max

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Beilue's Best from ICAST 2024: Baits & Tackle

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Beilue's Best from ICAST 2024: Rods

Finesse tactics continue to have impact on new bass gear. Of course, not everything in bass fishing is driven by finesse...
Gear

Beilue's Best from ICAST 2024: Reels

Game & Fish Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Get the Game & Fish App apple store google play store

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Game & Fish stories delivered right to your inbox every week.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Game & Fish subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Game & Fish stories delivered right to your inbox every week.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use