45
Blood lead concentration (µg/l) Explanation
BMDL01: 12 1% reduction in full scale IQ in children
(= 1 point reduction in IQ)
BMDL01: 36 1% increase in systolic blood pressure in adults
(1.2 mmHg given a blood pressure of 120 mmHg)
BMDL10: 15 10% increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease in adults
Table 1: Overview of reference values for blood lead concentrations (from VKM 2013, based on EFSA 2010)
Throughout Europe lead is commonly used in rifle ammunition
for cervid hunting. The use of lead shot for smaller animals
including wild birds was prohibited in Norway in 2005. However,
on February 3rd 2015, the Norwegian parliament voted to permit
the use of lead shot for hunting outside wetlands and outside
shooting ranges. This political decision was made against
recommendations from the environmental and health advisory
bodies in Norway. Norwegian researchers have reported findings
of high lead levels (mean 5.6 mg/kg, max 110 mg/kg) in minced
meat from moose Alces alces hunted using expanding lead-
based ammunition (Lindboe et al. 2012). Maximum levels of lead
(0.1 mg/kg) have been set by the European Commission (under
Commission Regulation 1881/2006 [EC 1881/2006]) for meat
from livestock animals, but no maximum levels have been set
for game meat. In 2012, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety
(VKM) to assess the risk of lead exposure from cervid meat to
the Norwegian population. Further, VKM was asked to describe
the distribution of lead from ammunition in the carcass and to
estimate the tissue area associated with the wound channel
that has to be removed in order to reduce the risk. VKM was also
asked to present, if any, other appropriate measures, in addition
to removing tissue, in order to limit the content of lead residues
fromammunition in cervidmeat. Finally,VKMwas asked to assess
the significanceof leadexposure to thehealthof dogs if theywere
fedwith trimmings from the wound channel. The risk assessment
was published in June 2013 (VKM2013).The results of the human
health risk assessment and the conclusions regarding possible
measures to reduce exposure are presented here.
To improve the scientific basis for the VKM risk assessment
the Norwegian Institute of Public Health initiated The
Norwegian Game and Lead study. The aim of the study was to
investigate associations between cervid meat consumption
and concentrations of lead in blood in Norwegians. The
outcome from this study was published in 2013 (Meltzer et al.
2013) and was used in the VKM risk assessment. In addition,
associations between cervid meat consumption and blood lead
concentrations in other available studies from Norway were
explored by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
METHOD
FOR THE NORWEGIAN GAME AND LEAD STUDY
The Norwegian Game and Lead study (Meltzer et al. 2013) was
conducted in 2012 in adults (n = 147) with a wide range of cervid
game meat consumption. The main aim was to assess whether
high consumption of lead-shot cervid meat is associated with
increased concentration of lead in blood. A second aim was
to investigate to what extent factors apart from game meat
consumption explain observed variability in blood lead levels.
Participants were asked about the frequency of cervid game
meat consumption (never, rarely during a year, one to three
times per month and one or several times per week) and data
were collected on their background (age, height, occupation,
residence), hunting habits (number of years hunting, assembling
own ammunition, number of shots fired, type of hunting,
etc.), on modifying factors (dietary supplements, alcohol
consumption, smoking, etc.) and consumption of game (moose,
red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus, reindeer
Rangifer tarandus, and small game). Detailed information on
game consumption included whether the game was whole
meat, minced meat or offal, whether the meat was from their
own hunting or purchased, and consumption within both the
last month and the last year.
Consumption of game and human blood lead levels: Norwegian experience