I stumbled across this http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19822198 which says that lead poisoning is still a significant problem for british waterfowl.
I haven't shot waterfowl myself, but some people I know say they were very disappointed by the performance of non lead ammo, so much so that they were tempted to use lead. Another issue is that they were shooting over ponds in a wood where they shot phesants with lead shot anyway! Is the current legislation which focusses on species rather than location (as I understand it, is that right?) actually having the effect it was supposed to?
What is the best non lead shot factory loads available? I read somewhere that UK proof houses wont approve really high velocity steel which is better, is that true that we cant get the best non toxic loads in the UK?