Tell the EPA: Get the Lead Out to Save Lives

Bald eagle suffering from lead poisoning.

Help stop the needless lead poisoning of bald eagles and other wildlife by asking the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate toxic lead in hunting ammunition. Sign our petition -- join more than 150 organizations calling on the EPA to both end the widespread lead poisoning of wildlife and safeguard human health.

The only thing keeping toxic lead in bullets and shotgun pellets is misinformation from organizations like the National Rifle Association, that are devoted to perpetuating the use of lead ammo despite the mountain of scientific evidence that it causes lead poisoning in a variety of species and risks the health of 10 million hunters, their families and low-income venison donation beneficiaries. But many rational hunters disagree with the NRA and think getting the lead out for wildlife is consistent with traditional American conservation and hunting values.

Spent lead pellets and lead fragments in shot game are still widespread wildlife-killers, felling bald and golden eagles, trumpeter swans, endangered California condors and more than 75 other bird species. Lead bullets can also fragment into minute particles and spread throughout shot game, causing a health risk to humans who eat it.

Fortunately, nonlead bullets and shotgun pellets are widely available -- more than a dozen manufacturers market hundreds of varieties and calibers of nonlead ammunition made of steel, copper and metal alloys. Hunters in areas that have lead-ammo restrictions have transitioned to hunting with nontoxic bullets.

There is simply no excuse to use toxic lead for hunting. Please sign the petition today, and share it with your network on Twitter and Facebook.

I strongly urge the Environmental Protection Agency to implement and enforce federal regulations to protect people and wildlife from completely preventable lead poisoning.

Although environmental lead poisoning has been reduced by removing lead from paint and gasoline, each year thousands of tons of lead are shot into the wild, a half-million lead fishing sinkers are lost or abandoned in aquatic ecosystems and numerous carcasses contaminated with lead fragments are left for scavengers. When this lead enters the food chain the effect on wildlife is staggering. Bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, loons, cranes, condors, herons and doves die incredibly painful lead-poisoning deaths. Wolves, bears and panthers are also poisoned.

Today there is simply no reason to continue to use toxic lead materials for hunting or fishing. Effective, nontoxic bullets, shot and fishing weights are widely available and, in many cases, comparable in price to lead.

Toxic lead in ammunition and fishing gear should be regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Please take action to both prevent the annual deaths of millions of wild creatures and to safeguard public health.

Thank you.

This petition is no longer active.

1-25 of 12271 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location
12271	Mon Dec 03 11:40:10 EST 2012	Monika Skowronski	Huntington, NY , US
12270	Sun Dec 02 22:40:01 EST 2012	Gerean Pflug	Ashland, OR , US
12269	Sun Dec 02 17:46:06 EST 2012	Denise Dunlap	Woodbridge, VA , US
12268	Sun Dec 02 17:18:58 EST 2012	Lori Rosas	Corpus Christi, TX , US
12267	Sun Dec 02 16:13:50 EST 2012	Macayla Barnes	Buffalo, NY , UM
12266	Sun Dec 02 13:10:59 EST 2012	Llauren Peralta	Los Angeles , CA , US
12265	Sun Dec 02 13:10:46 EST 2012	Llauren Peralta	Los Angeles , CA , US
12264	Sun Dec 02 11:11:34 EST 2012	james m nordlund	Fargo, ND , US
12263	Sun Dec 02 11:01:15 EST 2012	Anonymous	burlington, WV , US
12262	Sun Dec 02 04:15:22 EST 2012	Sofi Nordstrom	Savannah, GA , US
12261	Sun Dec 02 02:56:04 EST 2012	angela alvarez	los angeles, CA , US
12260	Sun Dec 02 01:15:45 EST 2012	dave delson	boca raton, FL , US
12259	Sat Dec 01 21:28:12 EST 2012	Ginger Neimo	Adelaide, ot , AU
12258	Sat Dec 01 20:01:15 EST 2012	Melinda Livwell	Goolwa, ot , AU
12257	Sat Dec 01 15:42:55 EST 2012	david warshauer	los angeles, CA , US
12256	Sat Dec 01 15:23:50 EST 2012	Mariana Salerno	Ny, NY , US
12255	Sat Dec 01 14:39:02 EST 2012	Rucha Harde	nagpur, ot , IN
12254	Sat Dec 01 13:43:52 EST 2012	Anonymous	Santa Rosa, CA , US
12253	Sat Dec 01 11:44:09 EST 2012	dale Noonkester	Potrero, CA , US
12252	Sat Dec 01 11:17:03 EST 2012	bruce randolph	boerne, TX , US
12251	Sat Dec 01 11:06:11 EST 2012	Robert Hotaling	Albany, NY , US
12250	Sat Dec 01 09:29:30 EST 2012	Chiara Testi	S. Gemignano di Moriano, ot , IT
12249	Sat Dec 01 05:22:18 EST 2012	Hiroko Jones	Saan Francisco, CA , US
12248	Sat Dec 01 03:55:07 EST 2012	barbara huggins	aurora, CO , US
12247	Sat Dec 01 00:19:15 EST 2012	TRESSA MARIE	MEDINA, OH , US

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Photo of bald eagle (c) Ken Lockwood, Eagle Valley Raptor Center.

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To learn more, visit the Center for Biological Diversity's Get the Lead Out page.