SREL Reprint #3654

Lead contamination differences in the muscle of wild turkeys harvested with lead and copper-plated lead shot

Cody A. Tisdale, James A. Martin, and James C. Beasley

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources,
University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina, USA

Abstract: Despite the known deleterious effects lead exposure can have on humans, lead remains the most common type of ammunition used to harvest big game and upland game birds. We sampled wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo breast muscle shot with standard lead and copper-plated lead pellets to quantify lead residue concentrations within the wound channel, and we sampled multiple adjacent locations to measure the extent lead contamination spreads through tissue of harvested turkeys. We found that samples taken from the wound channel contained more lead (mean = 3.76 µg/g dry weight) than both samples taken adjacent to the wound channel (mean = 0.20 µg/g dry weight) and samples taken from >5 cm away (mean = 0.15 µg/g dry weight). Additionally, we found that birds harvested with standard lead ammunition did not differ in lead concentrations from those shot with copper-plated lead, suggesting that copper plating does not aid in reducing lead exposure. Our findings suggest that wild turkeys harvested with either lead or copper-plated lead shot have the potential to expose consumers, especially children due to their lower tolerance, to low levels of lead that could exceed daily consumption limits set by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. However, elevated lead levels were confined to the wound channel, and thus proper preparation of game to remove tissue surrounding wound channels may eliminate or substantially reduce lead exposure from harvested game birds.

Keywords: bullet fragmentation; consumption risk; hunting; lead toxicity; nontoxic; wild turkey

SREL Reprint #3654

Tisdale, C. A., J. A. Martin, and J. C. Beasley. 2021. Lead contamination differences in the muscle of wild turkeys harvested with lead and copper-plated lead shot. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 12(1): 250-256.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).