Cerrosafe and lead?

[am44mag]

I MAY have made a boo boo today. I had a 1/2 lb of cerrosafe, but I can't find it. I also smelted a large amount of lead. I'm afraid I might have smelted the cerrosafe by mistake. I'm not sure of the exact weight of the lead yet, but it should be at least 60-100 lbs. How can I tell if I it did end up in the pot, and will it cause any issues?

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[KenH]

I'll follow this thread to see the responses you get. With only 1/2 lb of cerrosafe in 60 to 100 lb lead, I wouldn't expect it to make a whole lot of difference.... BUT - I'll wait and see what other folks say.

[high standard 40]

If it helps, I found this info on the composition of Cerrosafe.

"It is a eutectic alloy of 50% bismuth, 26.7% lead, 13.3% tin, and 10% cadmium by weight"

[Idz]

Cadmium is bad stuff if you vaporize it and breathe it. It was removed from most solders because people were poisoned by it. I have no idea what the health effect of cadmium in cast bullets would be but it can't be good.

[am44mag]

I got the weight of the lead. 112 pounds. If my math is right and if the cerrosafe did make it's way into my pot, then that alloy is 0.045% cadmium. I know cadmium can be dangerous even in small amounts, but that seems like an extremely small amount. Plus, I will more than likely add more lead to that pot once I find out the composition of the alloy. I believe it's probably a little on the hard side right now.

Will cadmium completely vaporize out of the alloy? It took quite a while to heat that pot. The cerrosafe was probably the first thing to melt, and the entire process of melting and cleaning the lead took 2-3 hours. (done outdoors in a very well ventilated area thankfully).

[runfiverun]

so it's okay to melt cerrosafe.
but it's not okay to melt cerrosafe?

I'd just make bullets and move along.

[sawinredneck]

so it's okay to melt cerrosafe.
but it's not okay to melt cerrosafe?

I'd just make bullets and move along.
Yeah, I like Norp better than this thread.

[KenH]

so it's okay to melt cerrosafe.
but it's not okay to melt cerrosafe?

I'd just make bullets and move along.

That's sorta my feeling also - Make bullets and go shooting.

[243winxb]

Cast and shoot. Sample of a lead bullet in %

Copper 0.038, Arsenic 0.16, Antimony 3.0, Tin 0.25, Zinc 0.0001, Cadmium 0.0001, Nickel <.0001, Bismuth 0.018, Silver 0.0038 ,Tellurium 0.0015, Sulfur 0.0005 Iron <.0001, Lead Balance.