Safe
Lead levels in N.D. blood scans are negligibleBy KIM FUNDINGSLAND, Staff Writer, kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com
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Fact Box
Public comments: Processors discuss lead in venison
"Really, the only thing we did differently was to cut a little deeper around the damaged area. People weren't all that alarmed. We did check our grinder a little more often for evidence of lead fragments. The hunter? I don't think he is going to change much."
-- Darrell Leier, Leier's Processing, Karlsruhe
"We didn't really change too much except for cleaning everything out. I'm talking about the wound channel and the meat around it."
-- Brady Severson, S&K Processing, Minot
"We made some changes. We got our boning crew together and alerted them to the alleged dangers. We wanted to take seriously the situation. We wanted to err on the side of safety and use more care around the wound channel. One of the things we did was make more frequent checks of the grinders to purge for any lead fragments.
"As far as the people bringing their deer, it wasn't a concern to them. It was not an issue. The other thing is, we have no real control over people who bone out deer themselves and bring it in."
-- Calvin Myers, Myers' Meats & Specialties, Parshall
Results of important and thorough testing conducted by the Center For Disease Control shows that North Dakotans who had eaten significant amounts of wild game for 10 years or more had lead levels well below the national average.
The testing came about following the discovery by Dr. William Cornatzer of Bismarck that lead fragments were present in ground venison donated to North Dakota food pantries. Although the tests showed a link between people who eat wild game harvested with lead bullets and higher levels of lead in their blood, none of the 738 people tested had a lead level approaching the CDC's level of concern.
"Nobody was in trouble from the lead levels," said Dr. Stephen Pickard, CDC epidemiologist who works with the State Health Department. "The effect was small but large enough to be a concern."
The highest level of lead in the blood of a test participant was 9.2 micrograms per deciliter. The CDC guideline for concern for adults is 25 micrograms per deciliter. The majority of those tested came in far below the CDC standard. In fact, the average lead level of consumers of wild game was actually lower than that of the average American. There was also only a 0.3 microgram difference between those who regularly consumed wild game and those who consumed none.
"I was one of the highest tested at 5.1," said Jason Foss, Minot. "Some of the members of our pheasant club tested low -- off the charts low. Many of them cast their own bullets and all that."
Terry Halgrimson of Minot is a lifelong hunter and consumer of wild game. Because of the amount of game he and his wife, Judy, consume, they thought it best to volunteer for testing. The test results revealed that the level of lead in their blood was deemed very low.
"We did it out of curiosity. Terry's level was 1.61," said Judy Halgrimson. "Mine was lower and my daughter's was even lower than that. We're not too concerned. We grew up eating wild meat and we plan on keeping on eating wild game."
Unconcerned
The possibility of lead showing up in venison didn't seem to make much difference to the state's deer hunters. Several sporting goods stores reported business as usual regarding the sale of rifle ammunition and noted that deer hunters were not overly concerned about the threat of lead in animals they would be harvesting.
"Absolutely not. No one up here is really concerned," said Steve Burton, Sportsman's Loft, Minot. "They understand how a bullet is designed and how it works and we're pretty smart about taking care of our game animals."
Roger Rostvet, deputy director of the Game and Fish Department, has closely followed the lead issue. While Rostvet points out that everybody in the study, even those who ate venison regularly, had lead levels far below what was considered a concern, he acknowledges the importance of the study.
"People do have concerns but there's a risk to everything in life,"
Rostvet said. "In this incident involving people's health there was no indication of anyone being above that cautionary level. We know lead is bad, but the reaction from the hunting community doesn't seem to be one of serious concern. I'm sure they'll modify the way they process their meat. Lead disperses through the meat more than was originally thought. That was a valid conclusion."
The study showed that high-powered bullet fragments, some too small to even be seen, traveled several inches from the wound channel on deer. While the amount of fragments can vary greatly according to what the bullet struck, today's hunting ammunition is generally manufactured to reduce separation.
"The way a bullet is designed now is to mushroom and stay intact," Burton said. "A lot of the bullets are bonded now. That means a bullet is molecularly engineered to stay together. If separation occurs in a damaged area, North Dakotans know enough to cut that area out."
Professional butchers, and most hunters who process their own game, regularly remove damaged meat around a wound. Due to the results of the CDC findings, they may cut away a little extra in the future as a further precaution against the possibility of processing a lead fragment. The North Dakota Department of Agriculture has come to the assistance of meat processors by publishing a suggestions to follow when butchering venison.
"We came up with a set of guidelines for processors to follow to encourage them to take additional precautions," said Andrea Grondahl, director of the state's meat inspection program. "It wasn't anything mandatory. For example, we asked butchers to regularly check the grinder head when they are processing large batches of venison. Lead pieces could get caught in there and contaminate additional meat."
Process
It was Cornatzer's X-raying of 95 packages of venison that had been donated to food pantries that led to the pulling of thousands of pounds of venison from pantry shelves. Fifty-three of the packages contained the presence of metal. A smaller sample testing revealed evidence of lead.
"Unfortunately, some nut had an agenda and wasn't thinking of all the consequences," Foss said. "The food pantries, processors, Game and Fish, all are going backward from it. Our club (Pheasants for the Future) had 4,000 pounds of meat pulled from Minot pantries."
"They told them it was tainted meat and they had to destroy it," added Gene Ritchie, Minot. "The hunters donated the meat. The club paid for processing it. All these hungry people really needed that meat. It makes me mad that the doctor in Bismarck started all this. You get these people on a mission and they just go crazy. They scared the people and when the results of the study finally came out, there was just a brief mention."
Eager to help the local food pantries, Pheasants for the Future has set aside $2,500 to purchase hamburger to replace the previously donated venison.
"Why should the people who need it suffer?" Foss said. "The money comes from our Hides for the Hungry program."
Minot area food pantries took the biggest hit of any in the state. The program was so well-received that several other communities were taking a serious look at duplicating it.
"That was a great program," Rostvet said. "It provided a lot of good protein for people that needed it and was well supported by hunters. It worked the way it was supposed to work and you can't say that for a lot of programs. The fear now is that anti-hunting groups will use this as just one more pellet to be fired for the anti-hunters."
Of initial concern was the real reason behind Cornatzer's small study. He is a board member of the Peregrine Fund, an organization that is opposed to using lead shot or lead bullets. The issue was recently addressed in the January issue of American Hunter magazine.
"His findings led to the premature disposal of thousand of pounds of donated venison that could have been used to feed hungry North Dakotans," wrote the magazine.
Moderation
One fact no one disputes is that lead is bad for you. Excessive levels of lead can cause complications ranging from reduced IQ to kidney damage to loss of developmental skills. If nothing else, the study has raised the awareness of lead. While acknowledging that no single study can claim to be the final answer, the North Dakota Department of Health issued the following precaution for young children and women who are pregnant.
"Studies show that pregnant women and younger children are especially sensitive to the effect of exposure to lead because they absorb most of the lead they take in, and the brains of infants and young children are still developing."
"We shouldn't dismiss the study and think there's no concerns at all," said Grondahl, adding that she consumes game on a regular basis. "I am a big deer hunter and may eventually switch to something other than lead bullets, but not immediately. One possible side effect, a clinical sign of lead, can be an increase in blood pressure. That's a common scenario that makes you think and wonder."
Grondahl said her department will be gathering samples the next few weeks from venison harvested this past fall and processed under the new recommendations. The results will be compared to the tests Cornatzer conducted to determine the effectiveness of new processing guidelines in reducing the amount of lead in venison.
