The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has proposed a ban on the use of lead gunshot in wetlands across the EU. The ban would reduce the large-scale exposure of numerous wetland-dependent bird species to lead ingestion of spent lead pellets. If agreed, the restriction will be adopted at the end of 2022.
Many EU states already have bans in place and alternatives to lead shot, such as steel, are widely available and although the alternatives are slightly more expensive the additional cost is not considered to be prohibitive.
Lead shot is inadvertently ingested from sediment and terrestrial environments and can cause secondary poisoning of predator species ingesting lead pellets and particles from prey species.
Lead poisoning causes neurological impairment through toxicity. Naturally occurring lead is extremely rare. Free lead in our environmental is almost always there because of human activity.
What are the implications for diving?
There are no current plans to restrict the use of lead in diving. Put simply, the scuba diver does not cast pellets of lead freely into the environment without concern for where each pellet lands. Lead released into the environment as a direct result of scuba diving or free diving should be extremely low. Ascending without the lead you descended with means that you gave someone else your weights or you’ve had a pretty scary experience down there.
For solid weights, many divers already use plastic-coated or painted weights and even if this is driven by the financial need to recover lost weights (bright yellow is easier to spot), it also means less lead exposure to the marine environment if the weight is recovered. Even if the weight isn’t recovered for a while, the paint or plastic should reduce leeching, at least in the short term. The paint or plastic does carry an intrinsic environmental risk of its own and this should be weighed against the risk of lead exposure from a non-coated weight.
Divers use lead because of its high density, few divers would elect to switch to other heavy metals such as gold, platinum and silver because of cost and even tungsten has an eye watering price tag when compared with lead. If we dived with brass we’d need larger weights and the copper in the alloy is known to be environmentally toxic too. There aren’t too many other options available- unlike shotgun pellets, steel just isn’t a viable option for many divers (weights would be almost twice the size of lead weights).
The greatest risk is through the use of shot bags: small bags of lead pellets which can be inadvertently released and ingested by accident if the bag bursts and the contents are spilled. If you use shot weight bags or pouches, you should visually inspect the integrity of the bag before you dive and help keep lead out of the environment.
First published 13 August 2020