Pregnant women and young children in North Dakota are being advised to avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets, health officials said.
A study released Wednesday examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents and found that those who ate wild game killed with lead bullets appeared to have higher lead levels than those who ate little or no wild game.
Although the elevated lead levels were not considered dangerous, pregnant women and children younger than 6 should avoid eating venison harvested using lead bullets, North Dakota officials said.
Both groups are more likely to get lead poisoning, which can cause learning problems and convulsions, and in severe cases can lead to brain damage and death.
Dr. Stephen Pickard, a CDC epidemiologist who works with the state health department, said the study is the first to connect lead traces in game with higher lead levels in the blood of game eaters.
Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources previously found that fragments from lead bullets spread as far as 18 inches away from the wound.
Pickard said nobody was in trouble from the lead levels. “However, the effect was small but large enough to be a concern,” he said.
The study noted that the more recent the consumption of wild game harvested with lead bullets, the higher the level of lead in the blood.
A physician conducting tests using a CT scanner found lead in samples of donated deer meat, leading officials in North Dakota and other states to issue warnings about eating venison killed with lead ammunition since the spring.
North Dakota’s health department ordered food pantries to throw out donated venison after the findings were announced.
However, some groups that organize venison donations have called such actions premature and unsupported by science.
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