Recent researches show that even though a metal contained in a lead bullet rapidly corrodes in the environment, a lead is become clamped by a corrosion products capsule and therefore remains unprocessed.

A research carried out by Donald Pimstidt and James Kraig, geology professors of Verginia Techa College, shows that a chemical reaction between a lead and air ions results in formation of a zinc oxide and lead carbonate hydroxide on a bullet wall during a shot. Therefore, a capsule protecting a lead bullet from decomposition in the ground is formed. The salts making a capsule are dissolved under standard conditions. For instance, over 50,000 tones of lead are annually deployed over the US territory with shots; at present, this is the main source of contamination of the US lands with a lead. Majority bullets are accumulated on private and official shooting ranges where a level of soil contamination with a lead must be extremely high. Professors D.Pimstidt and J.Kraig registered a lead content of up to 22 gram per sq. meter on these territories.

Given a lead high toxicity, people have to get concerned with a negative impact of a lead on the environment. Nevertheless, shooting ranges are still required, and there’s no adequate substitute of a lead contained in bullets.

That’s why it’s crucial to find another approach to resolve the issue. Namely, to add special ingredients, which would allow to dissolve a zinc salt-based capsule and open an access to the air and a soil to process lead bullets, to a typical composition of bullets. If not to take special measures, accumulation of bullets in the ground will continue. For example, bullets of the US Civil War time have been lien “in safety” (not decomposed) on the battle fields of Verginia for over a century owing to capsules formed from mineral salts during a shot.

These results were announced at the Geology Society meeting in November.

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