effects of brine on lead shot

[barney]

I have a wild turkey that took a lot of shot (lead) to the body.  Does anyone have any thoughts on the effects of brine on lead shot?  Will the salt cause the lead to leach into the meat?

[Bad Flynch]

As a matter of chemistry in a test tube, lead is a relatively low reactivity metal. Sodium Chloride (table salt) is the neutral salt of a strong acid and a strong base, and does not usually eat or etch other base metals. Table salt encourages corrosion in, say iron, because it attracts water. Table salt will form compounds with other salts where the end product is insoluble, as in the reaction where you add Silver Nitrate to Sodium Chloride and the result is the insoluble precipitate, Silver Chloride, but then the Silver was already in the form as a salt and not just a base metal.

To the extent that lead is attacked by food acids, it will be partially solublized (some lead salts are not soluble). These soluble lead compounds are then free to be absorbed by your body or to combine with the salt and form another soluble salt, Lead Chloride. However, probably no metallic lead will be made soluble by the table salt itself.

Let's face it: anytime you shoot an animal with lead shot, you are going to get a certain amount of lead in your diet. The best defenses are 1) pick out as much shot as is possible, and 2) eat the animals so killed soon after killing so that there is almost no lead made soluble by the acids in the flesh.

Having written that, I am reminded that careful hunters--especially on something like Turkeys--choose head shots where most of the shot is not in an edible portion of the meat. They would also prepare the animal carefully and eat it soon after killing.

I am also reminded that hunters and their families and guests have been eating animals so killed for hundreds of years without any apparent ill effects, so the effect (if any) must be small.

[coyote]

Well put Bad Flynch............................................Let's eat ! ;D




Coyote

[smokin stu]

good question barney......  good answer BF, sounds like you know what your talking about.  I was curious about lead shot and brining as well.

[West Coast Kansan]

 ???

My dad would hunt pheasants with a 22 (on the fly). Talk about not wanting to bite shot. I think he was a show-off.  ;D

[barney]

Bad Flynch, thanks for your reply.  It gave me the comfort factor I needed.

And you are correct that for turkey we careful hunters aim for the head and neck. I expect, given your nickname, that you understand that sometimes this just doesn't work out right.

thanks again

by the way the turkey was great