The challenge at hand is environmental contamination from lead shot used in shooting trap, skeet, and sporting clays, and from spent lead bullets at shooting ranges. It's a problem that continues to threaten wildlife, habitat, and water quality. It's an issue that's drawing the attention of national sportsmen organizations, arms and ammunition manufacturers, environmental professionals, and concerned citizens across the country. In Massachusetts alone, sportsmen's groups across the state are working with the Department of Environmental Protection to help individual shooters see the scope of the problem and work toward affordable, reasonable solutions. Excessive lead in the human body can damage genes, cause cancer, impair reproductive and thyroid functions, and lower resistance to infectious diseases.
Wildlife are also at risk.
Lead poisoning of waterfowl from ingestion of spent shot was first identified more than a century ago and has been documented in at least 15 countries. That's hard to say, so far. But take a look at what might be the situation at a typical shooting range. If there are 25 people shooting, then you're looking at nearly 132 pounds of lead per outing. With, say, only one outing a week for 30 weeks a year, those 25 shooters alone drop almost two tons of lead into the environment.