France, April 19 -- Waterbirds in France's largest wetland are still being poisoned by toxic lead pellets almost two decades after the ammunition was banned, a study has warned this week.

The research, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, shows that one in eight birds studied in the Camargue - a vast wetland in the Rhone delta in southern France - had ingested lead pellets.

For some species, such as mallards and pintails, that figure rises to one in four.

Scientists from the Tour du Valat research institute examined 2,187 gizzards (part of the stomach) from 13 species of waterbirds hunted in the region between 1998 and 2017.

They found no significant drop in lead exposure since a2006 ban on lead ammunitionin and...