uziq wrote:
thanks to this discussion i just sent the author a fact-checking query because i'm quite sure that 100,000 tonnes is way too much even for europe's hunters/fishers/nerdlings.
I would have to do some research but it sounds like a big number, OTOH every time some moron takes a pot-shot at a pigeon with a 12 bore thats an ounce of lead launched into the environment, and the spanish etc blast anything which flies over. But I thought Europe mandated non-lead shot now?
Seems like 100,000 tonnes is not so far off, but I would guess a lot of the 'sport shooting' number is eventually recovered, or will be.
https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/lead- … ng-weightsNot forgetting military danger area ranges where the bullets get spread over miles and miles, not collected in a backstop.
There is nothing good about lead in the environment, but the impact is actually limited, in most places it forms an oxide layer and takes 1,000s of years to dissolve. Unless its actually eaten by an animal where hydrochloric acid disssolves it or is in a wetland quickly its not really a big deal, there is always lead in the environment at some level.
The simple answer is to mandate non-lead projectiles where the projectile won't be recovered.
uziq wrote:
apparently so, but from what i've read lately (and i'm now obviously an expert), it sounds like america is way ahead of the rest of the world with munitions and safe disposal
Is this the same america which used agent orange and has dumped umpteen tonnes of DU across the ME quite recently?
https://paxforpeace.nl/news/overview/us … um-in-iraq
Last edited by Dilbert_X (2022-10-15 21:40:45)