Someone asks whether plants take up lead in sediments. Any uptake
via the roots is minimal. When leaded gas was used, there was
a lot of lead in the air, and plants next to the road would
have a considerable amount of lead adsorbed to the surface of
their leaves, but plants growing in lead contaimnated soil
show virtually no uptake. I don't know if lead in solution
in ponds would be adsorbed to the leaf surface of aquatic
plants. As others have pointed out, I always heard that ingestion
of pellets is the big problem with lead shot. It is hard to
imagine so much shot that a pond or lake would have a serious
lead pollution problem. On the other hand, lead (being an element)
can never break down into something else. It can only disappear
by being washed out of a pound or buried in the sediment.

Kelly Cassidy