Bald Eagle Population Growth Rate Suppressed by Lead Poisoning, Study Suggests

Such or other scares about eagles have been repeated many times for several decades now.

Could it be for other reasons? E.g. loss of natural environment or lack of food etc.

From the abstract we do not learn how "lead poisoning" was measured or what standard was used. There is no public access to this article!

From the abstract:

"... We evaluated the lead exposure of 1210 bald and golden eagles from 38 US states across North America, including 620 live eagles. We detected unexpectedly high frequencies of lead poisoning of eagles, both chronic (46 to 47% of bald and golden eagles, as measured in bone) and acute (27 to 33% of bald eagles and 7 to 35% of golden eagles, as measured in liver, blood, and feathers). Frequency of lead poisoning was influenced by age and, for bald eagles, by region and season. ..."

Bald Eagle Population Growth Rate Suppressed by Lead Poisoning, Study Suggests - WSJ: Scientists flag the risks of toxic ammunition fragments in a new study that found signs of repeated lead exposure in almost half the birds sampled.

Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America (no public access)