I can understand why one might want to avoid lead being sprayed about the environment however there is naturally occurring lead already in the environment and I cannot imagine what airgunners add to this makes a lot of difference.

At a range there could be a facility to enable spent shot to be collected to minimise potential pollution further reducing the potential harm.

On a clay ground where thousands of cartridges are spraying multiple loads of shot over a wide area I can see how this might be seen as more of an issue.