I'm curious, how much lead do we leave in the rivers and streams in the state of Washington.

It occurred to me that this is not the best thing to leave in the environment. Does anybody know of an alternative to lead as a weight.

If I leave 2lbs a year on the Skoke, and several hundred fishers do the same, that adds up to quite allot of lead. Multiply that by the number of other rivers and we are putting TONS of lead in the water every year. IS THIS BAD?

So my question to all here is, how much lead do you use each year on the average per year?

Thanks in advance, Dan

There are now several alternatives to lead ball, split shot, and sliding weights. Tin, tungsten, and ceramic are a few. No good sub for lead wire that I know. As far as is it bad, I would speculate that it isn't good for the environment, but the pieces are big enough and located where no birds are likely to ingest them and they probably work under the surface of the gravel/sand/mud pretty quickly.

yeah but that lead would still leach into our water supplies for years to come.

Yikes..that can't be good....

Check out this info.......You know that the next new reg will be......


http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/courses/geog100/Lead-InEnv.htm

One coil of lead will last me several years. And lead is my prefered weight of choice. I just don't lose that much anymore. Now 15 years ago I could go thru a coil in a couple of weeks.

I don't think lead left on river bottoms by fisherman have that much of an impact. Because of the size nothing is eating it and I don't think it dessolves into the water system??? I think it is just a little lead rock laying on the river bottom forever. Remember it is a natural component. Lead shot however is bad, bad, bad. Gamebirds pick at it to help digestion and then get lead poisening which can then be eaten and passed on to the hunter. I have never used lead shot and never will even where legal to do so.

I noticed that the above link did not mention sportsmen anywhere. If someone knows differently I would be interested to hear their opinion.

I'd be interested to see the size of the underwater lead mountain below Little Goose Dam on the Snake R. People who fish along the "wall" there use 10-20 oz. weights and typically lose them every time they catch a fish, which is often especially in springer season. Imagine archaeologists a few centuries from now trying to figure out why we would install such a huge pile of lead in a river...

(One of the reasons I don't fish "the wall" at Little Goose.)

Maybe we can get a chemist or someone who know the facts to respond. I though that the lead is not a problem as it disolves very slowly, if at all. But I admit I am not certain. Anyone out there know for sure?

I am a chemist, but I have to confess I haven't done much reading on the topic of lead from fishing in the environment. The little I have read looks like it's not a big issue, but it also makes sense to me that major accumulations should be avoided.

I'd assume that lead in rivers would dissolve just as the lead in lead pipes does, and that's been deemed an issue. Hard to imagine there being enough lead in a river the size of the Columbia to compare to the lead to water ratio in water flowing through a 1 inch pipe.

david

There was a thread here at least a couple of years ago, started out the same way. Someone chimed in with a very well thought out and logical response that left very few questions unanswered. Someone good at searching might be able to track it down. I pretty much quit worrying about it after reading that.

I am a chemist as well, and specifically I work in the trace metals dept of an environmental lab. I analyze samples of water, soil and sediment for a variety of metals including lead.

The solubility of metallic lead is mainly a function of pH. Several other factors also influence its solubilty like heat and hardness of receiving water, but pH has the most impact. River water in our near by streams can be described as soft - low mineral content and slightly acidic. The pH of our river water is not low enough to dissolve lead at a very appreciable rate. Not to say that some doesn't dissolve, but not very much or at a very high rate. It's my opinon that lead that is left in our rivers by fishing probably is farily stationary. It has low surface to weight ratio which would further discourage the lead from dissolving.

So what is the fate of pencil lead in a stream bed? Lead will probably be quickly buried in the stream sediment after a few big storm events because of its density. It's exposure to stream water that would dissolve it will be very limited or nonexsistent. I wouldn't expect this buried lead to cause much risk to the environment.

If lead is exposed to highly acidic conditions - like what exsists in the stomachs of animals lead will be dissolved fairly easily. This is why lead is a concern in playgrounds where childern are playing beacuse of their tendency to ingest dirt. This is also why lead shot is a concern for waterfowl hunters. Lead shot is ingested by birds eating off the stream and lake beds passing through its gut track. The lead shot from the hunter who is eating the bird probably has little impact on the amount of lead that is being consumed in that bird. The lead that the hunter is consuming has been incorperated into the birds tissues by first passing through its gut tract.

As a chemist and outdoorsman I don't like to lead in our rivers. Science and justification aside it just doesn't seem like a very good idea, especially if alternatives are available. I would like to have as little impact on our precious resources as possible while still being able to enjoy them.

I think this is a good topic. It makes you stop and think for a minute. Is this the best thing for our rivers lakes and streams? Couls i or should I do something different? It is a good thing for all of us to keep asking these questions.

Steve

I think melted lead is cool to look at and play with till you drip it on yourself!!

Good post steve

Guys,
there are mountains of eveidence that lead use is bad, we should do our best to keep it out of the environment. Check out this link and maybe it will help you understand. lead weights Im going to call some of the manufacturs on the list and ask who makes a pencil lead alternative and will post it for you. The question has bugged me for a while and some quick research has given me the incentive to switch, even if the price is higher.

fishing weights and lead.

In a growing number of areas outside Minnesota, non-lead tackle isn't just a good idea — it's the law. Restrictions and bans of lead fishing sinkers and jigs are becoming more common in the United States and other countries.

New Hampshire has banned the use and sale of lead fishing sinkers that weigh less than an ounce and lead jigs smaller than an inch.
Maine and New York (press release | law) have banned the sale of lead sinkers weighing a half-ounce or less.
In 2004, the Vermont Legislature passed a bill prohibiting the use and sale of lead sinkers weighing 1/2 ounce or less.
Great Britain restricted the use of lead fishing weights weighing less than 1 ounce.

In Canadian national parks and national wildlife areas, it is illegal to use lead fishing sinkers and jigs weighing less than 50 grams, a ban that went into effect in 1997. In 2002, the Canadian House of Commons debated proposed legislation to expand the restrictions of lead tackle use across the country. In February 2004, Environment Canada—the federal agency in Canada responsible for environmental protection issues—announced its intent to pursue actions to prohibit the import, manufacture, and sale of lead sinkers and jigs.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already banned lead sinkers in two national wildlife refuges and Yellowstone National Park. It is currently discussing restrictions on the use of lead sinkers and jigs at other national wildlife refuges where loons and trumpeter swans breed.

The last couple of years I've abandoned pencil lead altogether in favor of lead shot in slinky cord. It would be easy to make the transition to steel shot if they made it in the right diameters.

It would be even better to find tungsten shot to use for slinky's! I find using pencil lead to be a royal pain. It hangs up more often than slinky wieghts and is not nearly as user friendly. I would love to know if there are any studies done on tungsten as far as being good/bad for the environment. I would also love to find a place to purchase bulk tungsten shot/beads in the correct size for slinky wieghts.

Tungsten! now thats a good Idea. Although it is a little spendy I would imagine.

I usually go through bout a coil and a half of lead a year when river fishing for salmon, that dosent count what I lose in other sinkers fishin in the sound

I go through 1 to 2 lbs a year. I've often thought of this very issue, and also read a study about long term solubility in water, which inidicated that there wasn't much of a threat. Still it's seems prudent to look for alternatives but the lead is just so easy to use. If tungsten is safe for the environment and they made 3/16 and 1/4 rods in varying lengths AND the price came down to the relm of reason, I'd switch.