Setting maximum levels for lead in game meat in EC regulations: An adjunct to replacement of lead ammunition
- PDF / 570,594 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 105 Downloads / 175 Views
PERSPECTIVE
Setting maximum levels for lead in game meat in EC regulations: An adjunct to replacement of lead ammunition Vernon G. Thomas, Deborah J. Pain, Niels Kanstrup, Rhys E. Green
Received: 9 December 2019 / Revised: 11 December 2019 / Accepted: 29 February 2020
Abstract Each year, hunters from 12 of the 27 European Union (EU) countries and the UK shoot over 6 million large game mammals, 12 million rabbits and hares and over 80 million birds. They support an international game meat market worth over 1.1 thousand million Euros. Animals shot with lead ammunition frequently contain lead fragments in the carcass which contaminate meals made from game meat with concentrations of lead substantially above the maximum allowable level (ML) set by European Commission Regulation EC1881/2006 for meat from domesticated animals. This poses a health risk to frequent consumers of wild-shot game meat, with children and pregnant women being particularly vulnerable. Total replacement of lead rifle and shotgun ammunition with available non-toxic alternatives is needed for all hunting in EU nations to prevent exposure of humans and wildlife to ammunition-derived lead and to allow the depletion of the long-term environmental legacy of lead from spent ammunition. We propose that EC1881/ 2006 is amended to incorporate an ML for game meats as a supplementary measure to the replacement of lead ammunition. This would harmonise food safety standards for lead in meats traded across and imported into the EU. Keywords Europe Game meat Hunting International trade Regulation Scavengers
INTRODUCTION Modern European hunting results in game meat that is consumed either by hunters, their families or associates and enters the retail market place and restaurants (Schulp et al. 2014). The trade in game meat is large (FAO 2018), both within and among European nations, and between Europe
and other countries. This trade generates large revenues (Schulp et al. 2014; FAO 2018) that offset the costs of maintaining habitats on shooting estates. Human consumption of wild game meat is increasing, including the UK (BASC 2018, 2019), reflecting a preference for ‘unfarmed’ meat and the promotion of wild game as a healthy alternative to other meats (Taggart et al. 2011). Campaigns to promote game meat consumption are active in the UK (BASC 2019; CA 2019), as is the Danish promotion of game meat in schools (DJA 2019). Lead ammunition frequently leaves tiny fragments of lead dispersed widely through the meat of both large game shot with bullets (Hunt et al. 2009) and birds and other small game shot with lead gunshot pellets (Pain et al. 2010). This source of lead is biologically available (Green and Pain 2012) and is not easily removed, especially from the flesh of small game animals (Green and Pain 2019). It thus poses a health risk to those who frequently consume game shot with lead ammunition and to children and pregnant women who are especially vulnerable to the effects of lead (Pain et al. 2010; Green and Pain 2012, 2019; Knutsen et al. 2015).
Data Loading...
