Lead in sand butts is generally stable in terms of leaching.

(e) Granulated rubber traps provide cost effective and environmentally friendly trap solutions as rounds do not tend to break up causing lead dust. This form of trap is suitable for indoor or outdoor use,

02121. Environmental Impact. Rounds are captured either intact or in constituent parts, lead dust is not generated in the trap to the same degree as in a sand trap. The rubber granulate should not break up into fine dust like sand so there is no particulate thrown into the air during firing or maintenance of the trap. Like sand, there is no impact noise. The granulate may be recycled many times on site to remove spent bullets the granulate is then placed back into the trap.


JSP 403 Volume 2 Range design criteria and specifications Edition 3 Change 6 Amnd 1 Chap 2 Aug 12 Page 40 maintenance effort considerably.

As there is little or no lead dust, any maintenance of the trap will not expose range staff to significant levels of lead in air. The material will not breakdown so readily as sand so replacement or rotation of the trap need not be so frequent. Rabbits do not like tunnelling in this material. Most suppliers are able to provide a de leading or replacement service using a re cycling process on site. To ensure the granulate is not contaminated by wood and paper debris from targets on barrack ranges it is advisable to provide a light rubber sheet, plastic hessian or similar covering the granulate.

In June 2016 the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) was requested by the European Commission to evaluate whether the presence of certain substances in rubber granulate made from scrap tyres could lead to health risks that are not adequately controlled and require additional measures on EU level. Based on the current evidence available, ECHA concluded early 2017 that there is a very low level of concern from exposure to substances found in the granulate  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-018-0106-1

”The risk assessment indicated that the oral and dermal routes are the main contributors to the exposure of amateur football players to substances in rubber granulate; the inhalation route appeared not to contribute. No concern was identified for their exposure to the prioritised phthalates, benzothiazoles, BPA and metals in rubber granulate from Dutch STP, not even under worst-case conditions, as the estimated exposures to these substances were below the exposures that would lead to adverse effects on health. The prioritised PAHs appeared to be the substances of the highest concern, but even for this group of substances the measured migration from the Dutch field samples resulted in estimated additional cancer risks that were just above the negligible risk level of one in a million.”
“From a risk assessment perspective, it can be concluded that exposure to these CMR substances presents no appreciable health risk, given the concentrations in which they occurred in or migrated from the rubber granulate currently in place on a representative number of STP in the Netherlands. PAHs appeared to be the substances of the highest concern, but even for this group of substances, the concentrations in which they are present do not result in additional cancer risks above the negligible risk level of one in a million. This is supported by the recent investigation by ECHA, in which it was concluded that the concern for lifetime cancer risk is very low given the concentrations of PAHs typically measured in European STP with rubber infill.”