Dr. Vernon Thomas takes on IOC in effort to reduce lead poisoning in the environment
At the University of Guelph, our motto is “Changing Lives and Improving Life.” That is exactly what Dr. Vernon Thomas, Associate Professor Emeritus with the Department of Integrative Biology, is attempting to accomplish by pushing for a change in policy regarding the lead shot in hunting and shooting sports. Environmental lead poisoning affects not only wildlife but also humans, and although lead has been addressed in various industries – from paint to children’s toys – acceptable and effective policies have not yet been developed for hunting and shooting.
As an expert on migratory wildfowl and resident birds, Dr. Thomas was first alerted to the lead poisoning issue when a large number of loons were dying due to the ingestion of lead sinkers used on fishing lines. As a result, there is now a ban on lead fishing weights in National Parks across Canada, but not in Provincial Parks, due to reluctance at the Provincial level to make a change that would affect consumers.
A paper written by Dr. Thomas that compared lead shot to other alternatives played a key role in changing California policy regarding lead ammunition in hunting. This change was in response to the near-extinction of the endangered California Condors in the 1970s, when around only 30 birds remained. To protect the scavengers, who must be continuously re-trapped and retested to gauge lead poisoning levels, lead ammunition will be phased out in the state by 2019. The condors are an extreme example, but numerous other examples of lead poisoning are present in wild and captive populations of chickens, ducks, cattle, and other animals – all of which have the potential to land on our dinner table.
Human health hazards include lead poisoning of surface and ground waters, as well as direct consumption. In human populations that consume a lot of wild game – especially geese and big game – bullet fragments are often consumed with the animal, leading to high incidences of appendicitis and other health problems.
Recently, Dr. Thomas has targeted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF), who require the use of lead shot in all biathlon, skeet, and trap events, despite the fact that this opposes the promises of IOC Charter to protect the environment. Shooters fire thousands of tons of lead each year in preparation for competition, each shooting over 1000 cartridges per week. Although there is irrefutable evidence showing that shooting ranges contribute to environmental lead poisoning, and although the IOC has been aware of these risks since at least 1993 when Dr. Thomas first approached the issue, there is still no movement on changing the regulations in the sport.
The favoured, most economically feasible alternative presented to the IOC is the steel shot, which performs as well as lead up to 40 yards, but is just as cheap. For hunting, tungsten matrix or bronze alloy bullets have also been presented as alternatives, which actually have superior ballistics to lead.
Dr. Thomas stresses that this is no longer a question of whether or not lead impacts environmental and human health – all of the research and proof is undisputed. The alternatives have been presented, so removing lead from the environment is now in the hands of the lawmakers.