Comparative studies of the effects of lead, iron and zinc shot on the bones of chickens and the subsequent contamination of the surrounding tissue, Part 2

This study examined whether ammunition pellets can cause unacceptable level s of contamination in wild game animals intended for human consumption. For this, 65 chickens (Gallus domesticus) were slaughtered and then shot with lead, iron or zinc pellets, while a control group was not shot. The birds w ere drawn, skinned and stored in different ways. After storage the chicken meat was fried, samples of breast and thigh musculature were prepared, and the lead, iron and zinc contents of the meat were determined using atomic a bsorption spectrometry. On average the chickens shot with lead pellets showed the highest lead cont ent (1,40 +/- 1,31 ppm or 3,18 +/- 1,40 ppm) in the breast and thigh muscul ature. This amount was considerably higher than the maximum level of 0.25 p pm recommended for chicken meat in the 1997 ZEBS guideline. The average iro n content was highest in the breast musculature of the group shot with iron pellets (7,13 +/- 1,31 ppm), whereas the iron content of the thigh muscula ture of this group did not differ significantly from that of the control gr oup. The zinc content was approximately the same in all groups. For reasons of consumer these results indicate that environment and animal protection in Germany lead shot ammunition fur hunting should be replaced with iron or zinc shot.