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[Silver]

As a neurotoxin that can never be effectively removed from the body I am cautious as to my exposure to it. I believe that the fishing community is exceptionally accepting of its use and existence in people areas. It is well know to keep it away from children and their developing brains, or pregnant women for the same reason. But I believe that adults think that it's mostly no big deal because it's thought that you can just wash your hands. Long term exposure causes all kinds of neurological diseases like Parkinson's and MS. The white powdery oxidation is the worst as it's airborn and also easily absorbed through the skin...it's called white lead and is the bad stuff in lead paint. I saw a show about the worst jobs in the industrial revolution in history, and the women that had to produce it would scrape the powder off of coils of lead that was dipped in a light acid...from prolonged inhalation (a few years) they would develop horrific skull bone deterioration until they died. Ever wonder why your salt water fishing weights develop a white powder? Salt water is like a mild acid. I even noticed that my pencil lead that gets rained on starts to turn white after an outing or two. I just want to have another option for medium to heavy weight applications...am I the only one? I already use tungsten for trout fishing but there is not option for big river fishing.
And I believe that the change is not primarily for the environment because as a naturally occurring element, it's already in nature...even if it's mostly underground. I even learned of a plausible hypothesis that lost lead fishing weight remains mostly inert in water as the oxidation does not occur while the lead is devoid of air. Only in the case of ducks eating lead shot is where I can think of direct lead introduction to a species.
I cringe when I see the wooden bins of weights in the tackle shops, or worse the old cruddy fishing weights somewhere covered in white powder.

[Fish Assassin]

I've never heard of fishermen dying from lead poisoning. I've heard fishermen drowning. Time to fly fish more

[sbc hris]

I don't think direct lead poisoning would be the problem. Unless you swallowed a few split shot. Built up toxins in your body do all kinds of nasty things.

I used to bite my split shot onto my line. Learned it from my Dad. I stopped doing that years ago when I learned how toxic it truly is.

[chris gadsden]

I think youre on to something, im sure it gets in us one way or another. Theres also the chemicals in the salmon from the ocean, like Mercury. I try not to eat fish too many times a week.

 Honestly though from my point of view, its good to think about this stuff and be cautious of it but, theres a million chemicals out there in our daily lives that arent good for us and lead is just one example.. Its unavoidable in this age haha. Probably end up eating the stuff at some point without noticing lol.

I bite lead split shots sometimes.. Maybe i aught to rethink that

Do you think FF salmon have more chemicals in them?

[Knnn]

Lead exposure for fishermen is primarily through accidental ingestion, either by biting lead weights or handling lead weights and then eating drinking or smoking immediately afterward. 

Both potential exposure pathways can be readily mitigated by not biting lead weights and washing your hands after touching lead containing products.

Inhalation of lead dust is also a potential exposure pathway, although far less likely than the other two and will be highly dependent on site specific conditions such as if the exposure site is located indoors or outdoors, where airborne concentrations will be very different.  Some common sense practices will held reduce all exposure scenarios.  I keep my lead wights in a zip lock bag and most of the the time I handle the lead weights outside, where particulate concentrations become diluted very rapidly.  Combine that with not biting or eating lead weights and washing your hands should reduce your exposure considerably. 

I would be interested to see if anyone has done an exposure assessment in a store stocking lead weights that are unwrapped.

Acute lead poisoning in adults is difficult unless you were chewing on lead weights regularly or there is an occupational exposure route. Even accidently swallowing a few lead shot will not have much of an impact and will pass through the body pretty quickly.

You should also note that lead is not irreversibly retained in the body.  The half life in blood is only a couple of weeks and in soft tissues a number of months.  Although the half life in bones can be measured in years it should be recognized that because it is bound in the bones, it is not bio available and is effectively non-toxic in this body sink.

As already noted, lead posses the greatest risk to children, particularly children under 5, due to adverse impacts to the neurological and auto-immune system.  However, there are not too many toddlers fishing so this risk scenario is pretty unlikely and low.

Regarding mercury, most toxicologists agree that while sensitive groups such as expectant mothers should control or limit their consumption of certain fish (such as big old tuna) to one meal a week, for the rest of us the benefits of eating fish, particularly fish with relatively low levels of mercury, such as salmon, far outweigh the risks posed by methylmercury.

Chemicals are frequently both essential for life and poisonous.  As old Paracelsus said, "the dose makes the poison", even chemicals like salt, water and oxygen can be toxic if too much is eaten, drunk, or absorbed.

Too much information?

[A Frayed Knot]

• Lead is a naturally occurring element that can be toxic to most forms of life.
• Lead is not biodegradable and can accumulate in organisms and persist in bones and teeth
for decades.
• Lead poisoning occurs in both acute and chronic forms. For humans, even a small
exposure, especially for a child, can cause behavorial or cognitive changes.
• In the United States, laws have been adopted limiting lead content of water, paint, and
gasoline.
• Ingestion of lead shot and lead fishing gear can cause lead poisoning in many species of
wildlife.
• Because of their eating habits, lead poisoning is most common in waterbirds, but has also
been reported in many other bird species including raptors, and in painted and snapping
turtles and small mammals such as raccoons.
• In birds, lead is ground up in the gizzard, where it is dissolved by digestive acids
releasing it into their bloodstream.
• Studies have shown that loons are very susceptible to lead poisoning, and one lead sinker
or jig can kill a bird.
• Several countries have enacted laws limiting the use of lead shot, particularly for hunting
waterfowl.
• Several countries and several U.S. states have enacted laws limiting the use of lead
fishing tackle, mostly based on size.
• There is a growing list of manufacturers and retailers that offer lead-free fishing tackle at
a reasonable price.

Over 97% of all the water on Earth is salty and most of the remaining 3% is frozen in the polar ice-caps. The atmosphere, rivers, lakes and underground stores hold less than 1% of all the fresh water and this tiny amount has to provide the fresh water needed to support the Earth's population. Fresh water is a precious resource and the increasing pollution of our rivers and lakes is a cause for alarm

Citied from https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/river-pollution/polluting-the-rivers
and http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00037/wdfw00037.pdf
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002473.htm

I remember where I saw it but I saw a article either at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/ or another website, but places like the Vedder/Chilliwack fisherman lose several tonnes of lead weights each year.  I wish I could find the exact information but it was a pretty scary thought and it occurred to me how much at risk  we are because lets face, it snags and losing gear is pretty common and we forget how many split shots, pencil lead pieces and coils get lost every time we head to the river.
It's that same kind of lead found in those toys that started to poison and harm kids from china that most parents made a HUGE stink about, and here we are most of the time leaving it behind after fishing all winter.
Especially in a system where most of us might take our pets or family members to go swimming in, or may even do it ourselves.

[Dave]

Lead exposure for fishermen is primarily through accidental ingestion, either by biting lead weights or handling lead weights and then eating drinking or smoking immediately afterward. 

Both potential exposure pathways can be readily mitigated by not biting lead weights and washing your hands after touching lead containing products.

Inhalation of lead dust is also a potential exposure pathway, although far less likely than the other two and will be highly dependent on site specific conditions such as if the exposure site is located indoors or outdoors, where airborne concentrations will be very different.  Some common sense practices will held reduce all exposure scenarios.  I keep my lead wights in a zip lock bag and most of the the time I handle the lead weights outside, where particulate concentrations become diluted very rapidly.  Combine that with not biting or eating lead weights and washing your hands should reduce your exposure considerably. 

I would be interested to see if anyone has done an exposure assessment in a store stocking lead weights that are unwrapped.

Acute lead poisoning in adults is difficult unless you were chewing on lead weights regularly or there is an occupational exposure route. Even accidently swallowing a few lead shot will not have much of an impact and will pass through the body pretty quickly.

You should also note that lead is not irreversibly retained in the body.  The half life in blood is only a couple of weeks and in soft tissues a number of months.  Although the half life in bones can be measured in years it should be recognized that because it is bound in the bones, it is not bio available and is effectively non-toxic in this body sink.

As already noted, lead posses the greatest risk to children, particularly children under 5, due to adverse impacts to the neurological and auto-immune system.  However, there are not too many toddlers fishing so this risk scenario is pretty unlikely and low.

Regarding mercury, most toxicologists agree that while sensitive groups such as expectant mothers should control or limit their consumption of certain fish (such as big old tuna) to one meal a week, for the rest of us the benefits of eating fish, particularly fish with relatively low levels of mercury, such as salmon, far outweigh the risks posed by methylmercury.

Chemicals are frequently both essential for life and poisonous.  As old Paracelsus said, "the dose makes the poison", even chemicals like salt, water and oxygen can be toxic if too much is eaten, drunk, or absorbed.

Too much information?

Absolutely not!!  keep it coming, please

[Knnn]

I remember where I saw it but I saw a article either at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/ or another website, but places like the Vedder/Chilliwack fisherman lose several tonnes of lead weights each year.  I wish I could find the exact information but it was a pretty scary thought and it occurred to me how much at risk  we are because lets face, it snags and losing gear is pretty common and we forget how many split shots, pencil lead pieces and coils get lost every time we head to the river.
It's that same kind of lead found in those toys that started to poison and harm kids from china that most parents made a HUGE stink about, and here we are most of the time leaving it behind after fishing all winter.
Especially in a system where most of us might take our pets or family members to go swimming in, or may even do it ourselves.

Lead exposure pathways for humans are very different to fauna and flora.  There are many potential ecological receptors and they will have very different degrees of exposure and impact depending on the nature of the exposure pathway.

I agree that lead is toxic to humans both from an acute and chronic exposure.  However, you can't link the impact of lead in kids toys to lead in fishing weights, when considering human exposure, because the exposure pathways are completely different.  With toys the kids were putting the toys in their mouths for long periods of time and this does not happen with fishing weights.  The fact that lead is toxic, does not mean that it should be phased out or banned purely based on the potential for human exposure.  That would be the same as saying we need to ban gasoline because it contains between 10-30% compounds that are known to cause cancer in humans.  Our exposure to these chemicals are controlled so we can continue to use gasoline safely.  When spilled into the environment it's another issue entirely.

As you mention, lead can be toxic to ecological receptors because the exposure pathway is more likely to result in unacceptable levels of exposure, for example in birds.  With aquatic birds, fishing weights and/or shotgun beads are ingested and retained in their gizzards (to help digest food) and they continually leach lead into the gut to be absorbed across the intestinal wall.  Consequently and considering the huge amount of lead that is lost into rivers, I think it reasonable enough to find suitable replacements and I personally would be willing to spend more money (double) to use a safer alternative.

I do not have any data to back this up, however considering the density of lead, I suspect that it gets buried under sand, silt and gravel very quickly and therefore may not be bio available for very long.  During floods when a lot of river substrate is on the move, it may be exposed for brief periods, but will probably get buried again fairly rapidly.   I also doubt that the elemental form of lead would dissolve at a sufficient rate (even with physical attrition) to measurably increase lead concentrations in surface water.  Therefore, I feel it is unlikely to pose any risk to fish (particularly non-resident fish) or anyone swimming or drinking water in which lead fishing weights have been used, particularly big fast high energy and volume rivers like the Vedder.

In a small pond or wetland where a lot of lead has been deposited, such as a high use shooting area, it might be a different matter.

[fishingwithjohn]

I know lead isn't water-soluble under normal conditions but can you imagine the patchwork of betties + other gear along the bottom of the Fraser bars...always wondered if that had some impact on habitat degradation + pollution...I probably pulled out 100 pounds of lead this summer with my father.

...as for Salmon, they are not exposed to a diet necessary to become a heavy metal sink as well as lifespan (~5 years to a bluefins maximum of 50.) Most of the studies released place them on very-low risk...I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you're eating in 3 times a day, everyday aha

[Chehalis_Steel]

Another great reason to fly fish  Only weight I ever put on my line is tungsten putty for nymphing.

[Gooey]

I am confident that there is ZERO risk of lead poisoning from lead weights...I doubt that even ingesting a split shot would hurt you long term....except coming out maybe

My dad has a masters in organic chem and according to him, elemental lead is inert and very hard to absorb.  Organic lead compounds on the other hand are very easily absorbed but this isn't the type of lead fishers handle. 

As well,  I have casted thousands of lbs of lead and had my blood tested for lead several times with no measurable amounts detected.  If I can cast 2000 lbs a season and not have ANY measurable amounts in my system, the rest of you don't need to worry.

[zap brannigan]

will continue using lead until something as cheap/cheaper replaces it for fishing weights and bullets.

[A Frayed Knot]

Lead exposure pathways for humans are very different to fauna and flora.  There are many potential ecological receptors and they will have very different degrees of exposure and impact depending on the nature of the exposure pathway.

I agree that lead is toxic to humans both from an acute and chronic exposure.  However, you can't link the impact of lead in kids toys to lead in fishing weights, when considering human exposure, because the exposure pathways are completely different.  With toys the kids were putting the toys in their mouths for long periods of time and this does not happen with fishing weights.  The fact that lead is toxic, does not mean that it should be phased out or banned purely based on the potential for human exposure.  That would be the same as saying we need to ban gasoline because it contains between 10-30% compounds that are known to cause cancer in humans.  Our exposure to these chemicals are controlled so we can continue to use gasoline safely.  When spilled into the environment it's another issue entirely.

As you mention, lead can be toxic to ecological receptors because the exposure pathway is more likely to result in unacceptable levels of exposure, for example in birds.  With aquatic birds, fishing weights and/or shotgun beads are ingested and retained in their gizzards (to help digest food) and they continually leach lead into the gut to be absorbed across the intestinal wall.  Consequently and considering the huge amount of lead that is lost into rivers, I think it reasonable enough to find suitable replacements and I personally would be willing to spend more money (double) to use a safer alternative.

I do not have any data to back this up, however considering the density of lead, I suspect that it gets buried under sand, silt and gravel very quickly and therefore may not be bio available for very long.  During floods when a lot of river substrate is on the move, it may be exposed for brief periods, but will probably get buried again fairly rapidly.   I also doubt that the elemental form of lead would dissolve at a sufficient rate (even with physical attrition) to measurably increase lead concentrations in surface water.  Therefore, I feel it is unlikely to pose any risk to fish (particularly non-resident fish) or anyone swimming or drinking water in which lead fishing weights have been used, particularly big fast high energy and volume rivers like the Vedder.

In a small pond or wetland where a lot of lead has been deposited, such as a high use shooting area, it might be a different matter.

Thats a good point, my thinking behind the examples at the time was simply because, I suppose to the risks will affect different people. For example someone who may have an autoimmune disease (i hope i am thinking of the right thing) or Rheumatoid Arthritis which harms the immune system. Granted that's still probably unlikely, they would probably have to consume a reasonable amount but I suppose thats my concern is how much is actually in the water system.