lead found in venison leads to questions about safety

being born and raised in the wonderful state of North Dakota, i full fill the cliche of being a redneck and an avid hunter and fisherman. most of my friends share these values with me and every single one of us is proud of it! i am also a firm believer in eating what i kill. my father raised me to take only what i can eat or use, nothing goes to waste. Last year, early December, a study was done to determine the amounts of lead found in venison (deer meat) after it had been killed with high power rifles firing lead bullets. this study found that 5.3% of deer meat tested had trace amounts of lead even after it had been processed into the final product. i wasn't at all shocked when i read about this study. the only reaction i had was to what was going to happen North Dakota's hunting traditions when radicals get ahold of this information? i may be thinking rash but who is to say that there isn't someone out there just looking for a reason to ban hunting? this study could be the basis to someones argument against hunting. the link above isn't some "radical" person ranting about the cons of hunting, it is just an article warning consumers not to eat venison.

From personal experience, i have been eating this stuff since i was able to eat solid foods, and i am just fine! now i know what you may be saying to yourself, "how does he know that he doesn't have high levels of lead in his blood system?" because i have the proof! when venison was found to contain lead from lead bullets i took the initiative to have my blood tested for lead at the local clinic. at the clinic i filled out a questionnaire asking about my average intake of wild game taken by lead bullets. this included deer meat and upland game (pheasants, grouse, partridge, and dove) all of which are commonly taken with lead shot from shotguns. studies haven't been done to confirm, but it is believed that because shotgun pellets are so small, they could be easily ingested. back to my results. i received a letter in the mail about 3 months after my blood test with my results. now it was a long time ago that i read these results so the exacts numbers are fuzzy in my memory, the letter said that more than 10 µg/dL (micrograms/ deciliter) of lead in the bloodstream was dangerous. my results showed that i had approximately 0.25 µg/dL of lead in my bloodstream, far below the dangerous levels.

so there ya have it! no need to worry bout that the lead that may or may not be found in the wild game you got sittin in your freezer. now obviously the amount of lead is mostly dependant on the way your meat is processed. avoiding bloodshot meat and areas of meat located near a bone shattered by a bullet fragment will greatly reduce the amount of lead that ultimately finds it way into your system. North Dakota's Game and Fish department has an extensive PR department that deals with issues like this on a regular basis so i feel that my heritage as a North Dakota hunter is safe for now.