Detailed results were not made available, but States officials said on Friday that more lead was found in rock pools near Portinfer than during previous tests.
They also discovered declining amounts of lead in sand at the same location.
Samples were taken recently from behind the range used by the Guernsey Clay Target Shooting Club after Deputy Marc Laine went public with concerns he had been raising privately for years before his election to the States in June.
‘It is encouraging to note that there has been a significant reduction in the level of lead found in the sand, but the readings in the rock pools and sea water were higher than those taken in 2022,’ said Tobin Cook, director of environmental health and pollution regulation.
‘Sampling is affected by the amount of lead at the specific locations at the time of sampling and, therefore, officers are going to monitor trends in the lead levels.’
Deputy Laine has made repeated requests for health warning signs to be erected and told the Guernsey Press in July that he was determined to use his new position to press for the States to take the issue more seriously.
The Environment & Infrastructure Committee now looks set to act.
‘Our colleagues in Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services [a division of E&I] are considering introducing signage to alert people to the presence of lead,’ said Mr Cook.
Environmental Health has said that numerous samples taken from rock pools and sea water in 2022 included only one which exceeded the national safe drinking water standard.
But Deputy Laine said recently that private tests he had paid for on water collected from the area had revealed levels of lead hundreds of times greater than the national safe limit for drinking water.
The shooting club regularly uses specialist equipment to clean the coastline near Le Noir Houmet in the Baie des Pecqueries, behind the range at which it has shot for more than 50 years, but some rock pools still contain thousands of lead pellets.
Environmental Health said it had worked closely with the club in recent years.
‘We are pleased to hear that, due to the changes made by the shooting club, they are reporting that they are collecting more lead than they are shooting,’ said Mr Cook.
‘It will require ongoing action from the club to remove the lead which has accumulated over several decades, but it is encouraging to note the early progress.’
Deputy Laine was unavailable for comment over the weekend but is expected to react to the latest developments in the next few days.
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