USFWS APPROVES FOUR NONTOXIC SHOT TYPES

APPROVES FOUR NONTOXIC SHOT TYPES

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently approved four new nontoxic
shot
types for waterfowl
and coot hunting in the United States.

"The Service's approval of these four shot types demonstrates our
determination to make it easier for waterfowl hunters to comply with
the
restrictions on lead shot. Hunters now have a wider choice of shot
types
and this will continue to lessen the exposure of waterfowl to lead,"
said
Service Director H. Dale Hall. "The Service appreciates the efforts of
the
companies that have developed alternatives to lead shot."

The approved shot types are:
             A formulation of tungsten-iron-copper-nickel (TICN) shot,
             composed of 40-76 percent tungsten, 10-37 percent iron,
9-16
             percent copper and 5-7 percent nickel produced by Spherical
             Precision, Inc. of Tustin, California;
             A formulation of iron-tungsten-nickel (ITN) alloys composed
of
             20-70 percent tungsten, 10-40 percent nickel, and 10-70
percent
             iron produced by ENVIRON-Metal Inc. of Sweet Home, Oregon;

             A formulation of tungsten-bronze (TB) shot made of 60
percent
             tungsten, 35.1 percent copper, 3.9 percent tin, and 1
percent
             iron produced by Olin Corporation of East Alton, Illinois;
and
             A formulation of tungsten-tin-iron (TTI) shot composed of
58
             percent tungsten, 38 percent tin, and 4 percent iron
produced
             by Nice Shot, Inc., of Albion, Pennsylvania.

Waterfowl can ingest expended lead shot and die from lead poisoning.
Efforts to phase out lead shot began in the 1970s, and a nationwide ban
on
lead shot for all waterfowl hunting was implemented in 1991. Canada
followed with a complete ban in 1999.

A study in the mid-1990s suggested that the nationwide ban in the
United
States on the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting has had remarkable
success. Six years after the ban, researchers estimated a 64 percent
reduction in lead poisoning deaths of surveyed mallard ducks and a 78
percent decline in lead pellet ingestion. The study concluded the
restrictions on lead shot has prevented the deaths of thousands of
waterfowl.

With the approval of these new shot types, the list of approved shot
types
for waterfowl hunting now includes bismuth-tin, iron (steel),
iron-tungsten
(2 types), iron-tungsten-nickel, tungsten-bronze,
tungsten-iron-copper-nickel, tungsten-matrix, tungsten-polymer,
tungsten-tin-iron, tungsten-tin-bismuth, and tungsten-tin-iron-nickel.

        For more information on toxic and nontoxic shot, please see
     http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/ issues/nontoxic_shot/nontoxic.htm.