As of February 16, lead shot is banned on and in wetlands. Hunters may then only use lead-free ammunition there. This applies across the EU. Among other things, this is intended to protect waterfowl, which can otherwise ingest toxic ammunition residues when drinking or eating other animals that have lead in them and die as a result. “In addition, human health can be adversely affected,” warns the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), for example, “by lead residues present in game that was shot with lead ammunition.”