Waterbirds in France’s largest wetland are still being poisoned by toxic lead pellets almost two decades after the ammunition was banned, a study has warned this week.
The research, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, shows that one in eight birds studied in the Camargue – a vast wetland in the Rhône delta in southern France – had ingested lead pellets.
For some species, such as mallards and pintails, that figure rises to one in four.
Scientists from the Tour du Valat research institute examined 2,187 gizzards (part of the stomach) from 13 species of waterbirds hunted in the region between 1998 and 2017.
They found no significant drop in lead exposure since a 2006 ban on lead ammunition in and around French wetlands.
“During the 20-year study period, before and after the ban, the gizzards of harvested water birds showed an average prevalence of lead shot of 12 percent across the 13 species, with no significant reduction over time,” the study said.
Although the fieldwork ended in 2017, the findings were only made public in 2024 as a preprint, before being formally published on Tuesday following peer review.
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Lead pellets still used
The researchers also collected spent shotgun cartridges along public tracks in the Camargue between 2008 and 2019.
In 2008, 90 percent of the casings they found were from lead-based ammunition. By 2019, the figure had only dropped to 50 percent.
“This cartridge has no business being here,” Anthony Olivier, a research engineer and nature reserve warden at Tour du Valat, told the French news agency AFP.
“Each cartridge releases between 200 and 400 tiny lead pellets into the environment.”
Ducks and other waterbirds regularly swallow small stones, known as grit, to help them digest food. They often mistake lead pellets left in the landscape for these stones.
“The ducks ingest the lead pellets thinking they’re pebbles,” said Arnaud Béchet, research director at Tour du Valat.
“They poison themselves, die, and are then consumed by scavenger birds which are poisoned in turn. Lead poisoning affects the whole food chain.”
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Human health risks
That contamination doesn’t stop with birds – humans are also at risk.
The European Chemicals Agency warns that lead can damage fertility and cause lasting harm to the brain and nervous system, especially in young children.
It also increases the risk of cardiovascular, kidney and neurological disease in adults.
According to the agency, around 13.8 million people in the European Union – including 1.1 million children aged seven or younger – may be exposed to lead through the consumption of game meat.
Since 2006, the use of lead shot has been banned in or within 30 metres of wetlands in France. That zone was expanded to 100 metres in 2023. But some hunters say the rules are hard to follow on the ground.
“It’s enough for the ground to be dry and you’re not sure whether it counts as a wetland or not,” Jean-Marie Coste, a 74-year-old hunter in the Camargue, told AFP.
France’s National Federation of Hunters argues that lead-free alternatives are less effective and that modifying older firearms is nearly impossible.
It estimates the cost of replacing or adapting weapons nationally at between €650 million and €975 million.
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Lead breaks down very slowly and once it sinks into wetland sediment can remain near the surface and accessible to birds for decades.
The European Commission has warned that without further action, around 876,000 tonnes of lead could be released into the environment over the next 20 years – enough to put 135 million birds at risk of poisoning.
The commission is considering new restrictions that would limit the use and sale of lead in all hunting and fishing gear, including a proposed cap of 1 percent lead content.
In Denmark, where lead shot was banned entirely in 1996, the situation has improved.
“Research has shown that today most of the hunting shot ingested by ducks is no longer lead,” said Debbie Pain, a toxicologist affiliated with the University of Cambridge.
“In England, lead is banned for waterfowl hunting but still allowed for all other game. Because of this partial law, more than 70 percent of waterfowl are still being shot with lead.”
The Camargue researchers say a full ban across all types of hunting would make the rules easier to enforce – and more likely to protect both birds and people.
