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« To swim or not to swim: childhood asthma and indoor swimming pools | Main | Thanks, Calvin, for focusing the nation on children's health »

Poisonous pastime

Since the U.S. banned lead from gasoline and paint in 1978, there has been increasing recognition that even the smallest amounts of lead are extremely hazardous to human health. Basically, scientists and doctors have concluded that there is no safe level of lead exposure. The crusade against lead has gotten it out of faucets, lunchboxes, candies, toys, and many other items. But there's one significant source -- more accurately, hundreds of sources across the country -- of lead exposure that not only is largely unregulated but in some places operates on public land.

Jane Kay recently reported in the San Francisco Chronicle:

For 40 years on clear mornings, avid shooters have turned out at the Petaluma Trap and Skeet Club for the sport of popping away at clay pigeons hurled into the air.

The western Sonoma County range looks idyllic with hawks and golden eagles diving over grazing sheep. But in a year's time, the rural outdoor range is strewn with seven tons of lead, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which owns the land.

Health officials worry about even trace amounts of lead in gasoline, paint, plumbing, food and consumer products, which is why conservationists and regulators are warning about letting thousands of tons of lead accumulate at shooting ranges statewide.

Despite some cleanups and spotty county inspections, dozens of ranges in California remain under the radar of regulation.

Lead litter endangers wildlife and waterways, scientists say. Lead is so toxic that if consumed, it stunts the growth of animals and plants, and causes the loss of biological diversity, according to scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

How big a problem is lead pollution from shooting ranges? In 2001, EWG and the Violence Policy Center took a close look and found that

. . . [O]utdoor firing ranges put more lead into the environment than almost any other major industrial sector in the U.S. According to EWG and VPC, in just three years a typical firing range can become as contaminated with lead as a five-acre Superfund site, and the amount of waste lead contained in a single .45-caliber bullet is enough to contaminate the daily drinking water supply of a city the size of San Francisco to a level deemed unsafe by the U.S. EPA.

According to the National Rifle Association, there are more than 200 shooting ranges in California, and a number of them operate on public parkland, or in some cases, even receive funding from a local government's parks department. No matter how you feel about guns, even the staunchest defender of the Second Amendment would have trouble arguing that taxpayer dollars should be expended on an activity that is dangerous to the health of the community, of the facility's workers, its customers and their families. As we said seven years ago, that's like passing out cigarettes in school.

« To swim or not to swim: childhood asthma and indoor swimming pools |