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poses health risks to people, especially those consuming hunted meat. "Lead bullets explode and fragment into minute particles in shot game and can spread throughout meat that humans eat," says CBD. "Studies using radiographs show that numerous, imperceptible, dust-sized particles of lead can infect meat up to a foot and a half away from the bullet wound, causing a greater health risk to humans who consume lead-shot game than previously thought."
• CBD launched its Get the Lead Out campaign in March 2012 to raise awareness about the issue and help build support for a federally mandated transition to non-toxic bullets, shot and fishing gear. The coalition includes

groups from 38 different states representing conservationists, birders, hunters, scientists, veterinarians, Native Americans and public employees.  In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the coalition's request to take toxic lead out of hunting ammunition. In response, CBD and six other groups filed suit against EPA in June for refusing to address the problem.
• Opponents of CBD (such as the National Rifle Association/NRA) are on the offensive, supporting the Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012 (HR 4089), a bill that aims to open up more federal land to hunting, limit the President's ability to invoke the Antiquities Act to designate new protected lands, and prevent the EPA from regulating ammunition containing lead, among other provisions. The bill recently passed a floor vote in the House of Representatives, but political analysts doubt it will make it through the Senate.
• CONTACTS: CBD's "Get the Lead Out," www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/get_the_lead_out/; Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012 on Govtrack, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4089.
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