Traditional fishing sinkers, split shot, and many jig heads are still made from lead.
Why? Because it's cheap, it’s heavy, and it's malleable (and therefore, it's easy to manufacture).
But fishing weights are designed to be lost…
Every time a line snaps or a lure gets caught on a log, a chunk of lead sinks to the bottom of a lake or river. Multiply that by millions over decades, and imagine how much lead has accumulated in our popular fishing spots.
Like all lead in modern day manufacturing, It seems…very short sighted.
The biggest victims usually aren't the people fishing (though they are being harmed). They're the birds.
Loons, swans, ducks, and other waterfowl naturally swallow small stones to help grind food in their gizzards. Unfortunately, a lead sinker looks an awful lot like a pebble.
Inside a bird's digestive system, the acidic environment rapidly dissolves the lead, allowing it to enter the bloodstream. In some species, a single sinker can cause fatal lead poisoning. In New Hampshire, the Loon Preservation Committee reported that ingestion of lead fishing sinkers and jigs is the single largest known cause of adult Common Loon mortality in the state. They also note that a single lead sinker or jig can kill a loon.
In one Canadian study, nearly one in four dead Common Loons examined had died from lead poisoning after swallowing fishing weights. Researchers estimated that 125–187 million lead sinkers are lost in Canadian waters every year, creating a persistent source of exposure for waterbirds.
It's such a well-established problem that several states and countries have restricted or banned smaller pieces of lead fishing tackle so birds are less likely to consume them:
Countries with Restrictions on Lead Fishing Weights:
United Kingdom – Sale and use of most small lead fishing weights (0.06–28.35 g) banned since 1987.
Denmark – Import and sale of lead fishing weights banned since 2002.
Canada – Lead sinkers and jigs prohibited in all National Parks and National Wildlife Areas (not a nationwide ban).
U.S. States with Statewide Restrictions
Maine – Sale and use of lead sinkers and many lead jigs under 1 ounce prohibited.
New Hampshire – Sale and use of lead sinkers and small lead jigs weighing 1 ounce or less prohibited in freshwater.
Massachusetts – Use of lead sinkers and lead jigs weighing less than 1 ounce prohibited in inland waters.
Vermont – Sale and use of small lead sinkers (generally under ½ ounce) prohibited.
New York – Sale of lead sinkers weighing ½ ounce or less prohibited statewide.
The other thing…
I’ve gotten so many comments in the last year from men telling me that “lead is fine” because they’ve been holding lead sinkers in their mouths since they were kids…And they’re not lying. I mean, about putting the weights in their mouths. Apparently it is common practice among fisherpeople (to include children) to hold lead sinkers in their mouths while tying lines. Many use their teeth to crimp the weight onto the fishing line.
My question is always, “Are you sure you’re fine?”
It’s a tricky topic, because there are no certainties with lead. We only have proven associations and correlations. Everybody reacts differently to lead depending on millions of variables. BUT we're continuing to learn that even very low levels of lead exposure can have lasting consequences:
In 2026, researchers at Brown University found that each doubling of a child's blood lead concentration—even at the relatively low levels commonly seen today—was associated with a 90% higher risk of elevated depressive symptoms later in childhood.
This means that an increase from .5 µ/dl to 1 µ/dl (levels that modern medicine considers “low”) could result in an increased risk of developing depression in adolescence. THIS IS CRAZY.
Sometimes I kind of lose my mind that people don’t understand this.
Oh, and the most sensitive age for lead-induced depression? Eight years old. PRIME fishing age.
It's another reminder that there is no known safe level of lead exposure, and even small, avoidable exposures are worth preventing.
Here's what I keep coming back to: We know lead is toxic. We know it harms wildlife. We know it harms children. We know it harms adults.
And yet, we're still dropping lead into our lakes by design.
The bigger question is this: If we wouldn't invent this product today, WHY are we still making it?
*While researching this post, I stumbled across a very upsetting corner of YouTube consisting of videos of how to make your own lead fishing weights. There are HUNDREDS of videos featuring men, hunkered down in their driveways or garages, melting pure lead metal in pots and cast iron skillets, and pouring it into molds. Then grinding them smooth. THIS is why you always test the outdoor areas of your home and used cookware. You never know what the previous owners were up to…
Sources:
ScienceDirect: Preventing fishing-sinker-induced lead poisoning of common loons through Canadian policy and regulative reform
Brown University news release: Childhood lead exposure associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescence
Original JAMA Network Open paper: Blood Lead Concentrations and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Childhood