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X-ray screening of donated wild game is insufficient to protect children from lead exposure
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

X-ray screening of donated wild game is insufficient to protect children from lead exposure

Eric Buenz, Gareth J. Parry, Simon Hunter, Garret M. Powell, Dominik Berghamer, Ellen Cieraad, Jordan Hampton, Jon M Arnemo and Brent A. Bauer
Discover Food, Vol.4, 31
2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44187-024-00104-9
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Published988.09 kBDownloadView
CC BY V4.0,  Open Access

Abstract

Agriculture Brief Communication Chemistry Chemistry and Materials Science Food Microbiology Food Science Nutrition
Worldwide hunters distribute game meat as a gesture of community bonding and as an essential nutritional resource for those facing food insecurity, especially among children and adolescents. Nonetheless, the risk of lead (Pb) contamination from lead-based bullets is not widely acknowledged. Although medical radiography (X-ray) is the standard method to detect lead in meat donations, its efficacy in conclusively identifying lead contamination in game meat samples remains unknown. To address this deficiency, hunters-provided game meat samples were analyzed using both X-ray and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). By ICP-MS, 48% of these samples contained lead levels exceeding the daily intake benchmarks for children, including the samples in which no lead was identified by X-ray screening. This finding means that food insecure individuals need to make an unenviable decision between risking lead exposure in donated meat or forgoing a potentially critical food source.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#12 Responsible Consumption & Production

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