In a 30-day study involving penned game-farm mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), no harmful health effects
were detected from dosing with either six, No. 4, bismuth/tin (Bi/Sn) alloy shot or six, No. 4, steel (Fe)
shot, as compared with sham (0 shot) dosing. Survival, hematocrit (Hct) values, body weight, and
mean weights of kidneys, livers, gonads, and gizzards were not affected. Mean concentrations of
nutritionally essential elements (calcium [Ca], phosphorous [P], magnesium [Mg], zinc [Zn], copper
[Cu], Fe, and Sn) were different among doses and between sexes in kidneys, livers, and gonads.
However, concentrations of these elements in these organs and tissues in Bi-dosed ducks were not
different from both 0- and Fe-dosed ducks. Bi/Sn alloy shot, as tested in this study, elicited no
indications of toxicity in game-farm mallard ducks.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe
