Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
PLoS One. 2022 Apr 21;17(4):e0267401. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267401. eCollection 2022.
Scavenging and predatory wildlife can ingest lead (Pb) from lead-based ammunition and become poisoned when feeding on shot game animals. Humans can similarly be exposed to ammunition-derived lead when consuming wild-shot game animals. Studies have assessed the degree of lead contamination in the carcasses of game animals but this scrutiny has not so far extended to Australia. Stubble quail (Coturnix pectoralis) are one of the only native non-waterfowl bird species that can be legally hunted in Australia, where it is commonly hunted with lead shot. The aim of this study was to characterize lead contamination in quail harvested with lead-based ammunition. The frequency, dimensions, and number of lead fragments embedded in carcasses were assessed through use of radiography (X-ray). From these data, the average quantity of lead available to scavenging wildlife was estimated along with potential risks to human consumers. We radiographed 37 stubble quail harvested by hunters using 12-gauge (2.75") shotguns to fire shells containing 28 g (1 oz) of #9 (2 mm or 0.08" diameter) lead shot in western Victoria, Australia, in Autumn 2021. Radiographs revealed that 81% of carcasses contained embedded pellets and/or fragments with an average of 1.62 embedded pellets detected per bird. By excising and weighing a sample of 30 shotgun pellets (all had a mass of 0.75 grain or 48.6 mg), we calculated an average lead load of 78 mg/100 g of body mass. This was a conservative estimate, because fragments were not considered. This level of lead contamination was comparable to hunted bird species examined using similar methods in Europe. The quantity and characteristics of lead ammunition residues found suggest that predatory and scavenging wildlife and some groups of human consumers will be at risk of negative health impacts.
猎食性野生动物会吞食含铅（Pb）的弹药，并在捕食被枪击的猎物动物时中毒。人类在食用野生动物时也可能接触到源自弹药的铅。已有研究评估了猎物动物尸体中的铅污染程度，但迄今尚未将这一检查扩展到澳大利亚。黍鸡（Coturnix pectoralis）是澳大利亚唯一可合法猎捕的本土非水禽鸟类之一，常使用铅弹进行猎捕。本研究的目的是描述用含铅弹药猎捕的黍鸡中的铅污染情况。通过使用 X 射线（放射照相术）评估了尸体中嵌入的铅碎片的频率、尺寸和数量。根据这些数据，估算了可供猎食野生动物摄取的铅的平均数量以及对人类消费者的潜在风险。2021 年秋季，我们在澳大利亚维多利亚州西部对使用 12 号口径（2.75 英寸）猎枪射击含 28 克（1 盎司）9 号（2 毫米或 0.08 英寸直径）铅弹的猎人猎捕的 37 只黍鸡进行了放射照相术检查。放射照片显示，81%的尸体含有嵌入的弹丸和/或碎片，每只鸟平均检测到 1.62 个嵌入的弹丸。通过切除并称重 30 个霰弹丸（质量均为 0.75 格令或 48.6 毫克），我们计算出平均铅负荷为 78 毫克/100 克体重。这是一个保守的估计，因为没有考虑到碎片。这一水平的铅污染与使用类似方法在欧洲检查的猎捕鸟类物种相当。发现的铅弹药残留物的数量和特征表明，捕食性和食腐性野生动物以及一些人类消费者群体将面临健康负面影响的风险。
