Lead in the Wild

• In the US up to three million waterfowl die each year from lead poisoning.

• The US Department of the Interior reports that for every bird that hunters manage to kill, 250 grams of lead pellets from shotguns ends up in the environment.

• Biologists sampling the top few centimetres of the bottom of wetlands, ponds, and lakes have found in some areas about 250,000 lead pellets per hectare! Lost lead fishing weights also litter the bottom.

• After the hunting season is over, ducks and other waterfowl in search of food swallow these pellets. Three to ten days later, poison reaches the bloodstream and is carried to major organs - the heart, the liver, and the kidneys. By days 17 to 21, the bird falls into a coma and dies.

• Bald eagles can get lead poisoning from swallowing the lead shot that lurks in the bodies of the waterfowl they eat.

[Points extracted from an excellent article entitled "Lead Poisoning: Are you and Your Children at Risk?" in Awake! November 22, 1992. Printed by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia, Box 280, Ingleburn NSW 2565. Reprinted with permission.]

Sludge Snags

Can you believe that a Japanese research team have developed a way of creating sausages out of sewage sludge? One hopes they also recycle the heavy metals they must surely remove from the sludge.

In an effort to show that human waste is recyclable and has many applications, the researchers have added soybean protein and other additives to sewage, to create a meat substitute with the appearance, texture, smell and taste of beef. Just add steak sauce!

If you find this all too revolting, don't panic, the sausages will probably only be used in a crisis. Moral of the story - don't get involved in a crisis!

[Reference: Waste Management and Environment (WM&E) magazine Dec 1993]

Nursery Rhyme

There was a little man, and he had a little gun,
And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.
He saw a little duck, upon a little brook,
And he shot it right through the head, head, head.

[Reference: Deans Mother Goose Book of Rhymes]

Recycling Light Globes

Ever since light globes appeared on our "Lead: It's Everywhere - list of sources" (LEAD Action News Vol 1 No.1, 1993) I've been feeling guilty about throwing old light globes in the rubbish bin. The cat's eye shaped contacts are made of lead. It seems some Melbourne councils are now recycling both council and ratepayers' globes with a machine called the "Lampcrusher", designed and manufactured in Victoria by Seldco.

The machine crushes the globes while dousing them with water to neutralise any sodium. Special filters then remove heavy metals so effectively that the waste water can be discharged into the sewerage system. Seldco is working on a process to recover and reuse heavy metals from the filter.

[Reference: WM&E magazine Jan 1993]