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Regulations on lead ammunition adopted in Europe and evidence of compliance

  • Lead Use in Hunting
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Abstract

The transition to non-lead ammunition has been enforced by regulations on use and possession of lead shot and rifle bullets. Here we review the scientific and technical literature about this regulatory process in Europe and give some notes of its effectiveness to reduce this source of lead contamination in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Presently, lead shot use has been legally restricted in 23 European countries. Two, Denmark and The Netherlands, have a total ban of lead gunshot use in all types of habitats, 16 countries have a total ban in wetlands and/or for waterbird hunting, and 5 have a partial ban implemented only in some wetlands. The legal regulation of lead bullets is limited to some German regions. This review also highlights the need to know the level of compliance with the ban on lead ammunition and the subsequent benefits for the susceptible species and for game meat safety.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Anna Mazzolini, Alessandro Andreotti, Oliver Krone and Jovan Andevski their help with the information about the current regulations in some EU countries. We also thank two anonymous reviewers their comments and suggestions to improve this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Rafael Mateo

  2. Department of Bioscience, Institute for Bioscience – Kalø, Aarhus University, Grenåvej 12, 8410, Rønde, Denmark

    Niels Kanstrup

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Mateo, R., Kanstrup, N. Regulations on lead ammunition adopted in Europe and evidence of compliance. Ambio 48, 989–998 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01170-5

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