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What is e-waste?Electronic waste, or e-waste, is any waste that has a circuit board or cathode ray tube (CRT). This includes products such as– • Televisions |
In July 2006, The Raptor Center received $12,000 from the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board through the Community Power: Partners in Waste Education and Reduction program. Heavy metals are toxic to humans and wildlife. TRC will use these funds to teach people which household items, such as batteries, thermometers, televisions, and monitors, may contain heavy metals and how to properly dispose of them to protect themselves, their children, and our shared environment. TRC will also provide information on possible alternative products.
Lead: the hazards are well documented
Although the extent of the danger to raptors is not clearly defined in all cases of heavy metals, it is well documented in cases of lead toxicity. Lead is a toxic metal that has adverse effects on the nervous and reproductive systems of mammals and birds when ingested. Found in many household items, including fishing tackle and hunting ammunition, this metal has clearly been demonstrated to be an environmental toxin for wild birds such as loons and eagles.
When lead fishing sinkers are lost through broken lines or other means, they become a source of environmental toxin that can be inadvertently ingested by wildlife. Some birds swallow lead when they scoop up pebbles from the bottom of a lake or river to help grind their food; others ingest lead by eating fish or waterfowl that have swallowed sinkers. When lead ammunition is used in the hunting of game, scavengers such as eagles can be exposed through ingestion of pellets or shrapnel found in gut piles that are left behind.
25 percent of bald eagles affected
While it is hard to get an accurate count of water birds and birds of prey that die of lead poisoning, conservative estimates indicate that lead poisoning is a serious concern.
Between 1980 and 1996, The Raptor Center reported lead poisoning in 138 out of the 650 eagles it treated. Since 1996, an average of 25 percent of the bald eagles admitted to The Raptor Center each year have toxic levels of lead in their blood.
| Much of the time, the source of the lead cannot be identified. However, the majority of lead-poisoned eagles admitted to The Raptor Center each year arrive during the period from mid-November through early December, when deer-hunting season is underway in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Because regulations banning the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting were implemented on a national basis in 1991, scientists at The Raptor Center think that the source of ongoing lead poisoning in bald eagles is ammunition used in the hunting of large game, as well as lead jigs and sinkers used in fishing. Other investigators have cited lead fragments in bodies of ground squirrels and other small mammals that eagles scavenge. The Raptor Center is currently engaged in a study to determine the source of lead in eagles through radioisotope analysis of lead fragments found in eagle stomachs. |  Twenty-five percent of the bald eagles admitted to The Raptor Center suffer from lead poisoning. This bald eagle is so debilitated that it can barely stand. |
Mercury, silver, cadmium may also be threats
While lead poisoning in raptors and other wildlife is well documented, other metals are not as well studied and thus not as well defined. But this does not mean they are not a threat. One study conducted by the Department of Animal Science at the University of British Columbia clearly demonstrated bald eagle deaths resulting from mercury poisoning.
Heavy metals in general have been shown to cause illness in many animals. Raptors are top-of-the-food-chain predators, and as such are subject to biomagnification of pollutants as they move up the food chain. Biomagnification refers to the sequence of processes that result in higher concentrations of pollutants in organisms at higher levels in the food chain. These processes result in an organism having higher concentrations of a substance than is present in the organism’s food. A historical example of this is the effect of DDT on bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and other birds that feed higher up on the food chain.
Reducing heavy metals such as lead, mercury, silver, and cadmium in our environment by properly disposing of them or choosing alternative products when available will benefit humans, raptors, and our shared environment. You can do your part by learning where heavy metals are found in household products and how to properly dispose of them. This information is easily accessible at www.greenguardian.com; be sure to contact your county solid waste management office for specifics on all hazardous waste disposal.