Lead ammunition: the toxic legacy of recreational hunting

Every year, recreational hunters in Europe scatter tens of thousands of tonnes of lead across the landscape. Lead shot ends up in wetlands, rifle bullets fragment inside the animal's body, and offal containing ammunition residues is left lying in the forest. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) estimates the annual lead input from recreational hunting and shooting ranges at around 44,000 tonnes, of which around 14,000 tonnes enter the terrestrial environment through recreational hunting alone. The toxicological consequences are scientifically proven: at least 55,000 birds of prey are missing from Europe's populations because they were poisoned by ammunition lead via the food chain. In Switzerland, golden eagles and bearded vultures die from lead fragments in the offal left behind by the high hunt, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) expressly warns of lead residues when eating game meat, and a motion for a national lead ban failed in the National Council in 2023 by 99 votes to 94. Since February 2023, lead shot has been banned in EU wetlands; the general EU ban, which passed the REACH Committee in June 2026 after years of resistance from the recreational hunting lobby, covers only lead shot and leaves lead-containing bullet ammunition out of scope. This dossier documents the facts, analyses the political blockades and shows why lead ammunition is among the greatest avoidable environmental toxins of recreational hunting.

What awaits you here

• Lead as an environmental toxin: Why lead in ammunition is one of the greatest avoidable environmental problems of recreational hunting, and how much of it enters Europe's soils and waters every year.
• Birds of prey and predators: How golden eagles, bearded vultures and red kites absorb lead via offal and carcasses, and what the Leibniz study on 55,000 missing birds of prey shows.
• Game meat and health: Why authorities advise pregnant women and children against eating game meat, and why there is no safe threshold for lead in the body.
• EU regulation: How the lead shot ban in wetlands came about and why the general ban adopted in June 2026 covers only lead shot.
• Swiss patchwork: How Switzerland operates with a cantonal patchwork, why the Munz motion failed and why the 2025 ban will only take effect in 2030.
• Lobby and resistance: Which strategies the recreational hunting lobby uses to delay a lead ban, and how FACE, the ammunition industry and right-wing populist forces work together.
• What would need to change: Demands for a comprehensive lead ban in Switzerland.
• Argumentation guide: Answers to the most common justifications offered by advocates of lead ammunition.
• Quick links: All relevant articles, studies, dossiers and sources.

Lead: What a single shot leaves behind in the landscape

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that does not break down in the environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists it among the ten chemicals of greatest public health concern. Lead has long since been banned in Europe from petrol, paints, water pipes and toys. In recreational hunting, it remains the standard to this day.

The scale is considerable. ECHA estimates that between 600 and 700 million shotgun cartridges are fired in the EU every year. Of these, around 5,000 tonnes of lead end up in wetlands alone, with thousands of tonnes more on fields, in forests and at shooting ranges. Each shotgun shot releases up to 250 lead pellets, of which only a fraction hit the target; the rest remain in the environment. With rifle bullets, the lead shatters on impact into hundreds of fragments that spread through the animal's body and are left behind in the countryside with the offal when the carcass is gutted. Without further regulation, ECHA estimates that around 876,000 tonnes of lead from recreational hunting, sport shooting and fishing would enter the European environment over the next twenty years.

Lead does not break down in the soil. It accumulates, is carried into deeper layers by rainwater and can contaminate groundwater in the long term. Near shooting ranges in Schleswig-Holstein, soil samples have already been measured with lead concentrations in the gram-per-kilogram range. What recreational hunting deposits in the landscape remains there for generations.

More on this: Lead in hunting: how politics, lobbying and transitional periods keep a poison alive and Game meat: criticism of risks, ethics and environmental consequences

Birds of prey and predators: poisoned through the food chain

The toxicological impact of lead ammunition on birds of prey is among the best-documented environmental harms caused by recreational hunting. In 2022, scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) published a study in the journal «Science of the Total Environment» that for the first time quantified the extent of lead poisoning at European level. The result: Europe is missing at least 55,000 adult birds of prey because they were poisoned by ammunition lead via the food chain. The total population of ten raptor species examined is at least six per cent smaller than it should be, due to lead poisoning alone.

Long-lived species with low reproduction rates are hit hardest. The white-tailed eagle population in Europe is reduced by 14 per cent, that of the golden eagle by 13 per cent, and that of the griffon vulture by 12 per cent. More common species such as the common buzzard (down 1.5 per cent, which still corresponds to around 22,000 missing birds) and the red kite (down 3 per cent) are also affected. In Germany, almost a third of the dead white-tailed eagles found in recent years died of lead poisoning. The study also demonstrates a clear link between the density of recreational hunters and the poisoning rate: the more recreational hunters are active per square kilometre in a country, the more poisoned birds of prey are found. In a country where no lead ammunition is used, the scientists' calculations indicate there would be practically no lead-poisoned birds of prey.

The poisoning mechanism is well understood. Birds of prey and predators ingest lead fragments when they eat offal (the entrails left behind in the forest by killed animals), when they catch wounded wild animals that were never recovered, or when they feed on carcasses of animals shot with lead ammunition. The aggressive stomach acid of birds of prey dissolves the metallic lead and accelerates its uptake into the bloodstream. Even tiny amounts can lead to loss of appetite, cramps, paralysis, inability to fly and damage to the nervous system, which usually ends in death. Besides birds of prey, the problem also affects other predators and scavengers such as foxes, badgers and wolves, which ingest lead via contaminated carrion.

In Switzerland, the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, together with the Grisons Office for Hunting and Fisheries, has demonstrated the link between lead ammunition and golden eagle poisoning. An isotope analysis showed that the lead signature in golden eagle bones does not match natural soil lead but corresponds exactly to the lead in hunting ammunition. Camera traps confirmed that golden eagles systematically feed on the offal left behind from high hunt and ibex hunting. In the Swiss Alps, golden eagles and bearded vultures have demonstrably died of lead poisoning. According to conservationists, lead-containing ammunition is the greatest threat to the bearded vultures reintroduced in the Bavarian Alps since 2021.

According to estimates, around one million waterbirds die every year in the EU from lead poisoning caused by shot, and a further one to two million land birds from lead poisoning caused by bullet fragments. In total, around 135 million birds in the EU are at risk of lead poisoning. Besides birds of prey, the poisoning also affects grey partridges, pheasants and wood pigeons, which mistake lead particles for food.

More on this: The dangers of lead ammunition and Wolf in Switzerland

Game meat and health: when the “natural” is contaminated

Lead contamination affects not only wild animals but also human health directly. Lead is harmful to humans at any concentration. According to the current state of scientific knowledge, there is no safe threshold for lead in the blood. Even 3.5 micrograms per decilitre of blood can trigger behavioural problems in children.

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has examined the link between lead ammunition and game meat in depth. The results show that game meat from animals killed with lead ammunition contains significantly higher lead levels than game meat obtained with lead-free ammunition, even in cuts further from the point of impact, such as the saddle or haunch. The lead fragments are often invisible to the naked eye and are not rendered harmless by cooking, roasting or freezing. The BfR recommends that small children, pregnant women and women who wish to have children avoid eating game killed with lead ammunition wherever possible.

In Switzerland, too, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) recommends consuming game killed with lead ammunition only in small quantities. For children up to the age of seven, pregnant and breastfeeding women and women planning to have a child, the advice is: avoid eating game wherever possible, «because it cannot be ruled out that it was killed with lead ammunition». That is a remarkable sentence to find in an official federal recommendation. In plain terms, it means that uncertainty remains built in at the point of purchase and on the plate for as long as lead ammunition is not comprehensively banned.

In 2022, the Swiss Animal Protection (STS) had game meat products from domestic recreational hunting tested for lead content. Lead was detected at concentrations above 0.05 mg/kg in 5 of 13 samples. ECHA estimates that a general ban on lead in hunting ammunition could prevent IQ loss in around 7,000 children per year in the EU, in households that consume game meat particularly often.

Recreational hunters and their families are particularly exposed: studies from Switzerland show that recreational hunters' households eat up to 90 portions of game meat a year. When shooting, too, recreational hunters and sport shooters are exposed to lead fumes and lead dust. The irony is obvious: recreational hunters who promote «natural, healthy» game meat say nothing about the fact that their own tools contaminate the product.

More on this: Risks of game meat: health, environment and ethics and Game meat: from shot to plate

EU regulation: from the wetlands ban to an endless negotiating marathon

The EU's regulation of lead ammunition is a textbook case of scientific clarity running into political delay. The process began in 2018, when ECHA recommended a complete ban on lead shot in wetlands. After a consultation and deliberation process lasting more than five years, Regulation (EU) 2021/57 entered into force on 15 February 2023: since then, firing and carrying lead shot in and within 100 metres of wetlands has been prohibited in all countries of the European Economic Area. The regulation establishes a reversal of the burden of proof: recreational hunters carrying lead shot near wetlands must prove that they did not intend to use the ammunition there.

The wetlands ban was conceived from the outset as a first step. In January 2021, ECHA presented a comprehensive restriction proposal that would ban lead in all hunting ammunition, in outdoor sport shooting and in fishing tackle. ECHA's scientific committees (RAC and SEAC) confirmed that the restriction is justified given the risks to the environment and human health. The proposed restriction would reduce lead emissions by around 630,000 tonnes over twenty years, a reduction of 72 per cent.

In February 2025, the European Commission presented the REACH Committee with its draft regulation for a general ban on lead in recreational hunting and outdoor sport shooting. The draft provides for transitional periods: three years for lead shot in recreational hunting, 18 months for rifle ammunition above 5.6 mm calibre, and five to ten years for small calibres. In December 2025, the Commission submitted a revised draft that extended the transitional period for rifle ammunition above 5.6 mm to five years and for small calibres to 15 years, with a review clause after ten years. BirdLife International described the draft as a “historic step”. A majority of Member States, however, did not support this proposal, chiefly because of geopolitical concerns and socio-economic impacts raised by the ammunition industry and the agricultural lobby. On 26 June 2026, the REACH Committee finally adopted a heavily watered-down text (17 Member States in favour, 5 against, 5 abstentions): it now covers only lead shot containing at least one per cent lead by weight, with a transitional period of seven years from entry into force; rifle and handgun ammunition as well as shotgun slugs are exempt. The scrutiny period of the European Parliament and the Council ran until 10 October 2026.

Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) has since confirmed the ban: from 1 April 2029, the sale and use of lead shot, as well as lead bullets with a diameter of 6.17 mm or more, will be prohibited. Since April 2024, Denmark has been the first country in the world with a comprehensive ban on lead-containing hunting ammunition. In the Netherlands, lead shot has been banned for years. In Germany, four of the 16 federal states have banned lead-containing rifle ammunition in recreational hunting. In addition, lead ammunition is prohibited in the state forests of several federal states and in national parks.

More on this: Wolf in Europe: protection status and European initiatives

Swiss patchwork: recognition without consequence

In Switzerland, the typical pattern emerges: the problem is acknowledged, but the solution is postponed. Since 1998, the use of lead shot in waterfowl hunting has been banned (now Art. 2 para. 1 let. l of the Hunting Ordinance, JSV), after Switzerland acceded to the UN Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). For all other areas of application, there is no national ban.

On 27 September 2020, the Swiss electorate rejected a proposal to amend the national hunting act. This also stopped an ordinance on a partial lead bullet ban that the federal government had prepared as part of the revision. Motion 22.3641 by SP National Councillor Martina Munz, which called for a far-reaching ban on lead-containing ammunition, was narrowly rejected by the National Council in the spring session of 2023, by 99 votes to 94. The parliamentary documentation expressly states that a general ban on lead-containing shot can be dispensed with "for the time being". This is the Swiss variant of delay: the problem is acknowledged in places, but broad areas are left open.

Meanwhile, a patchwork is emerging at cantonal level. Since September 2021, the canton of Grisons has banned lead-containing bullet ammunition during the high hunt, with a one-year transition period. Even before the ban, around 75 per cent of Grisons recreational hunters were voluntarily using lead-free ammunition, according to cantonal figures. An analysis of more than 8,000 kills showed no significant difference in flight distances between lead-free and lead-containing ammunition. Appenzell Outer Rhodes issued an ordinance in 2022 making bullet ammunition lead-free. St. Gallen had already ordered its wildlife wardens to switch to lead-free ammunition. On 1 February 2025, a revised hunting ordinance came into force banning lead-containing bullet ammunition from calibre 6 mm upwards (Art. 2 para. 1 let. n JSV). Under the transitional provision, however, it remains permitted until 31 December 2029; some cantons, such as Glarus (from the 2027 hunt), are applying the ban earlier. Lead shot is not covered by the ban, except in waterfowl hunting.

Yet major gaps remain. Lead-containing shot is still permitted for recreational hunting, except when hunting waterfowl. Many cantons have not issued their own rules and are waiting for a national solution that is not coming. The result is a cantonal patchwork in which "lead-free" is a formal goal but, for years, is not actually enforced. What emerges is a regulatory fog in which everyone is "working on it" but nothing is ever finished.

More on this: Special hunts and the limits of recreational hunting and Switzerland hunts, but why still?

Lobbying and resistance: the tools of delay

The blocking of a comprehensive lead ban is no coincidence, but the result of systematic lobbying. Anyone who lays the debates in the EU, the UK, the US and Switzerland side by side will recognise three recurring strategies.

First: transition periods as a political sedative. The switch is declared a goal, but its implementation is pushed back by years or decades. In the EU draft of December 2025, the transition period for small-calibre ammunition was already 15 years; in June 2026, bullet ammunition was removed from the restriction altogether and the deadline for lead shot was extended from three to seven years. Every extension of a transition period keeps markets open, prevents a clean switchover and creates new loopholes.

Second: technical pseudo-arguments. The recreational hunting lobby claims that lead-free ammunition has a poorer killing effect, causes more ricochets and is "not yet fully developed". The German Test and Research Institute for Hunting and Sporting Firearms (DEVA) has demonstrated in a large-scale trial that lead-free bullets can be used just as safely as lead-containing ones. Experience from Grisons, where more than 8,000 kills were evaluated, confirms this. In Denmark, which has had a comprehensive lead ban in place since April 2024, no problems with lead-free ammunition have been documented. The resistance is not a technical problem but a cultural and economic one.

Third: political alliances with forces friendly to the ammunition industry. In 2020, right-wing populist and neo-fascist groups in the European Parliament tried at the last minute to block the wetland ban that had already been agreed. In November 2025, the European umbrella association of recreational hunting, FACE, organised an event in the European Parliament at which the association of European ammunition manufacturers (AFEMS) warned of "considerable consequences" for the industry. FACE has accompanied the REACH process for years with the declared aim of extending transition periods, securing exemptions and delaying the adoption of the general ban. The line of argument is always the same: they are "fundamentally" in favour of a switch, but implementation is "too fast", "too broad" or "not yet practicable".

The environmental organisation BirdLife International sums it up: "It is unprecedented for scientific recommendations to be so brutally disregarded." An insider in the Brussels administration confirms: "Normally, ECHA recommendations, which often come at the end of years of consultation, are followed. The fact that such an obviously plausible ban is meeting with such resistance is astonishing." The parallel to other lobbying battles waged by recreational hunting, such as those against the protection status of the wolf, is obvious: when scientific evidence becomes inconvenient for a lobby, it supplies not arguments but buys time.

More on this: Recreational hunters are being lavished with praise and Hunting myths: 12 claims you should scrutinise critically

What needs to change

• An immediate ban on lead-containing bullet ammunition in recreational hunting throughout Switzerland: Without cantonal loopholes and without years of transition periods. The technology is mature, and experience from Grisons, Denmark and other countries shows that lead-free ammunition performs equally well.
• Ban on lead shot outside wetlands: The existing ban in wetlands is ecologically inadequate as long as lead shot remains permitted on fields, in forests and at forest edges. The contamination affects the entire terrestrial ecosystem.
• Mandatory disposal of offal and carcass remains: As long as recreational hunters leave the offal of killed animals containing ammunition residues lying in the forest, the poisoning chain for birds of prey and predators remains active. Template motion: Ban on lead ammunition in recreational hunting
• Mandatory labelling of game meat: Consumers must know whether game meat was obtained with lead-containing or lead-free ammunition. Without transparency there is no informed purchasing decision and no market pressure to switch.
• Active Swiss support for the EU-wide lead ban: Even though Switzerland is not an EU member, it is part of the Alpine region and affected by the same poisoning pathways. A national lead ban would strengthen the credibility of Swiss environmental policy.

Talking points

“Lead-free ammunition is not yet mature.” The opposite is true. In Denmark, all lead ammunition has been banned in recreational hunting since April 2024, with no documented problems. In Grisons, over 8,000 evaluated kills showed no significant difference in flight distances. The German Test and Testing Institute for Hunting and Sporting Weapons confirms that lead-free projectiles can be used just as safely. Copper and copper-zinc alloys are available in all common calibres. The “not yet ready” argument is a delaying strategy, not a technical fact.

“The lead input from recreational hunting is minimal compared with other sources.” Comparing it with historical lead emissions from petrol or industry obscures the fact that lead ammunition is today one of the last major, actively managed sources of lead. 44,000 tonnes a year is not a marginal problem. Moreover, the lead input from recreational hunting is locally concentrated: in hunting areas, at shooting ranges and along wetlands, hotspots arise that directly affect wild animals.

“The ECHA figures are exaggerated.” Even conservative estimates demonstrate considerable impacts. The Leibniz study on 55,000 missing birds of prey is based on liver data from over 3,000 dead birds of prey in 13 countries, collected since the 1970s. The authors themselves describe their calculations as conservative. The relationship between recreational hunter density and lead poisoning rates is statistically unambiguous: more recreational hunters mean more poisoned birds of prey. In a country without lead ammunition, there would be no lead-poisoned birds of prey.

“A lead ban endangers national defence.” The EU restriction applies exclusively to civilian use and, in the version adopted in 2026, now covers only lead shot. Military and police use of lead ammunition is explicitly exempt. The ammunition industry can continue to run existing production lines for civilian and military purposes in parallel. In its restriction proposal, ECHA expressly stated that the military's security of supply is not affected.

“Voluntary measures are sufficient; a ban is disproportionate.” In Britain, voluntary transition programmes have demonstrably failed, which is why the government has decided on a ban from 1 April 2029. In Switzerland, despite years of recommendations from JagdSchweiz, a significant proportion of recreational hunters continue to use lead ammunition. The lead author of the Leibniz study, Rhys Green, states: “Efforts to encourage a voluntary switch have unfortunately been entirely ineffective so far.” When a poison is known, alternatives exist and voluntary action fails, a ban is not an overreaction but the logical consequence.

“This only affects recreational hunters, not the general public.” Lead ammunition poisons birds of prey, predators, waterfowl, soil and groundwater. Game meat containing lead residues ends up in restaurants and private households. Pregnant women and children receive official warnings. This is not the private concern of a hobby group but a public health and environmental problem.

Quick links

Articles on Wild beim Wild:

• Lead in hunting: how politics, lobbying and transitional periods keep a poison alive
• The Dangers of Lead Ammunition: An Appeal for a Ban
• Lead residues in game meat products
• Risks of game meat: health, environment and ethics
• Game meat makes you sick
• Denmark's Path to Lead-Free Hunting
• Recreational hunters are being lavished with praise
• Special hunts and the limits of recreational hunting
• Switzerland hunts, but why still?
• Hunting causes more harm than good

Related dossiers:

• Hunting and Wildlife Diseases
• Night hunting and high-tech: the myth of fair hunting
• Hunting Dogs: Use, Suffering and Animal Welfare
• Lead ammunition: the toxic legacy of recreational hunting
• High hunt Switzerland: Traditional ritual and stress test
• Swine fever as a justification for recreational hunting
• Hunting Accidents in Switzerland
• Hunting and Animal Welfare: What the Practice Does to Wild Animals
• Hunting and Weapons
• Driven Hunt in Switzerland
• Wait Hunting: Waiting, Technology and Risks
• Earth hunting
• Trap hunting
• Wait hunting
• Special Hunt in Grisons
• Swiss Hunting Statistics 2025: What the Federal Figures Show
• Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland: Systematic impunity and the limits of self-control

Our Standard

Lead ammunition is a toxic legacy that kills birds of prey, contaminates soil, taints game meat and poisons predators. The facts have been known for decades, the alternatives are available, and the resistance is purely politically and economically motivated. This dossier documents why a hunting system that spreads a known environmental toxin across the landscape out of tradition and lobby interests does not fit with modern environmental and health policy, and why Switzerland does not have to wait for the EU to act. The dossier is updated continuously as new data, rulings or political developments require.

More on the topic of recreational hunting: in our hunting dossier we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports.