Lead remnants from spent ammunition introduce health risks to humans and wildlife that consume game harvested with firearms. Most current research has focused on effects of high‐velocity rifle bullets, whereas low‐velocity lead ammunition has received little attention. We examined whether fragmentation characteristics differed between 3 common low‐velocity ammunition types when shot into the thoracic cavity or shoulder of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) culled in Indiana, USA, from May–September of 2009. We shot and subsequently radiographed 43 deer to determine the number of fragments, fragment size, and distance traveled by individual fragments. We also radiographed deer post‐evisceration to determine the proportion of fragments available to humans and wildlife scavengers for consumption in muscle and visceral tissue, respectively. All radiographed deer had evidence of fragmentation, with a geometric mean of 13.1 (95% CI = 10.3, 16.8) fragments/deer. Most fragments (89%) were <5 mm from wound channels, and no fragment traveled beyond 205 mm from a wound channel. Fragments were often retained within the muscle tissue of deer with a geometric mean rate of 0.55 (95% CI = 0.48, 0.65). Muzzleloader bullet fragments were larger than those generated by rifled and sabot slugs, and sabot slug fragments had the shortest dispersal from wound channels. Shoulder‐shot placement and bone contact for all ammunition resulted in a greater number of fragments (P < 0.01). Shoulder‐shots also generated more small fragments and higher fragment retention in muscle tissue. The overall mean number of lead fragments detected across our ammunition treatments was less than previous studies. Our results indicate ammunition type and shot placement may be considerations for hunters wishing to limit their potential exposure to lead from harvested big game. Additionally, when compared to high‐velocity rifle bullets, significantly fewer lead fragments are made available to humans and wildlife that consume game harvested with low‐velocity ammunition types, such as those tested here. Complete elimination of lead ingestion by humans and wildlife, however, is only possible by using non‐toxic ammunition alternatives. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

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弹药类型和射击位置确定鹿中的铅碎片

废弹药中的铅残留物会给食用枪支收获的野味的人类和野生生物带来健康风险。当前的大多数研究都集中在高速步枪子弹的影响上，而低速铅弹药却很少受到关注。我们检查了射入白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus）的胸腔或肩部时三种常见的低速弹药类型之间的碎片特征是否存在差异）于2009年5月至9月在美国印第安纳州淘汰。我们拍摄并随后对43头鹿进行了射线照相，以确定碎片的数量，碎片的大小以及单个碎片的行进距离。我们还对内脏后的鹿进行了射线照相，以确定可用于人类和野生生物清除剂的分别在肌肉和内脏组织中消耗的碎片比例。所有射线照相的鹿都有碎裂的迹象，几何平均值为13.1个碎片/鹿（95％CI = 10.3，16.8）。大多数碎片（89％）距离伤口通道小于5 mm，并且没有碎片从伤口通道行进超过205 mm。碎片通常以0.55的几何平均速率保留在鹿的肌肉组织中（95％CI = 0.48，0.65）。Muzzleloader的子弹碎片比步枪和sa子弹产生的碎片更大，sa段虫碎片从伤口通道的扩散最短。所有弹药的肩部射击放置和骨骼接触导致更多碎片（P  <0.01）。肩部拍击还会在肌肉组织中产生更多的小碎片和更高的碎片保留率。在我们所有的弹药处理过程中，检测到的铅碎片的总平均数量少于以前的研究。我们的结果表明，对于希望限制他们从收获的大型游戏中获得铅的潜在接触的猎人来说，弹药类型和射击位置可能是考虑因素。此外，与高速步枪子弹相比，可供消耗以低速弹药（例如此处测试的弹药）收获的猎物的人类和野生生物使用的铅碎片要少得多。但是，只有使用无毒弹药替代品，才能完全消除人类和野生动植物摄入的铅。©2020野生动物协会。