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ABSTRACT
Questions and concerns about the use of lead-free ammunition in hunting were encountered during the Oxford Lead
Symposium. Many originated from commonly-held, but unsubstantiated, reports that have hindered the transition
to use of lead-free ammunition in the UK and elsewhere. This paper examines and answers the principal reservations
raised about the use of lead-free hunting ammunition. The issue of how the evidence for lead exposure and toxicity
to wildlife from discharged lead shot cartridges could be better communicated to the public to enhance adoption of
lead–free ammunition is addressed. The paper presents evidence to assuage concerns about the effectiveness and non-
toxicity of lead ammunition substitutes, their suitability for British shooting andweapons, and their role in wildlife health
protection. Collectively, these answers to concerns could lower the public resistance to use of lead-free ammunition and
thus make game shooting a more environmentally-sustainable pursuit.
Key words: Lead-free ammunition, misconceptions, use, shooting, ballistics, toxicity, barrel damage, efficacy, shot pattern,
ricochet, availability
INTRODUCTION
Despite a large volume of scientific evidence that spent lead
shotgun and rifle ammunition poses risks to wildlife and
human health (Watson et al. 2009, Group of Scientists, 2013,
2014), there has been, with a few notable exceptions, marked
reluctance across the international shooting community to
adopt lead-free substitutes. Exceptions include Denmark and
The Netherlands, which banned all use of lead gunshot – as
long ago as 1996 in Denmark (Kanstrup 2015). Other nations,
including the UK, have begun to prohibit lead use where the
evidence of lead poisoning of wildlife has been, historically,
most apparent. In England in 1999 this resulted in a ban on lead
shot use for hunting waterfowl or over certain, listed, wetlands,
with regulations following in the other UK countries. However,
compliance with the English regulations still appears to be
very low 15 years on (Cromie et al. 2015). No nation has yet to
regulate the use of both lead-free shotgun and rifle ammunition
for hunting, although the state of California will do so in 2019
(Thomas 2015). At the recent Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Migratory Species (COP 11, Quito, November
2014), a resolution was passed, the guidance to which calls for
the replacement of all lead ammunition, in all habitats, with
Key questions and responses regarding the
transition to use of lead-free ammunition
Vernon G. Thomas1†, Niels Kanstrup2 & Carl Gremse 3, 4
1 Department of Integrative Biology, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
2 Danish Academy of Hunting, DK-8410, Ronde, Denmark
3 Faculty of Wildlife Biology, Management and Hunting Practice, University of Applied Sciences Eberswalde,
Alfred – Moeller – Str. 1, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany
4 Leibniz – Institute for Zoo andWildlife Research, P.O. Box 601103, D-10252 Berlin, Germany
† Corresponding author email address:
A paper written with reference to the Oxford Lead Symposium rapporteur’s records.