Lead in hunting ammunition: what are we waiting for?

For about fifteen years, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) has been warning the Italian national and regional authorities of the need to phase out the use of lead ammunition for hunting in wetlands and terrestrial ecosystems to prevent damages to wildlife, the environment, and human health (Andreotti & Borghesi 2012).This recommendation raised protests from hunting associations and ammunition manufacturers, who started pushing to prevent the introduction of bans on the use of lead-based ammunition.To date, ISPRA's advice has been largely ignored, and the issue is still far from being solved.But why did ISPRA decide to solicit initiatives to ban lead in hunting ammunition?Evidence of the adverse effects of lead ammunition on waterbird populations dates back to the 19 th century.The Italian ornithologist Paolo Savi was the first to describe and hypothesize lead poisoning in birds based on acute observations and analysis of the behaviour of mallards Anas platyrhynchos, carried out from 1786 to Avocetta -vol.