Cast iron, lead, and lead testing..............

[triggerhappy243]

I have started a cast iron pan/pot collection for cooking purposes.

My question is, is there a way to test a piece of cast iron for lead contamination? This piece was completely clean of any evidence of cooking or the possibility of lead contamination.

[Sam Sackett]

You might want to check hardware stores, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. There used to be a lead test kit for testing existing painted surfaces. If they are still available, they might give you a clue.

Sam Sackett

[kentfielddude]

You could try these test swabs.
https://a.co/d/dq0zudP

[BJung]

I've read that TSP, a cleanser you can buy at Home Depot, reacts with lead and makes the new compound inert. Another thread mentions cleaning lead out of your pot with a 1:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Maybe you can research both as an option.

[triggerhappy243]

I've read that TSP, a cleanser you can buy at Home Depot, reacts with lead and makes the new compound inert. Another thread mentions cleaning lead out of your pot with a 1:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Maybe you can research both as an option.

I am looking for tests to see IF lead is present. It is more of a security measure. I will look into the tsp. I think I have some.

[poppy42]

I've read that TSP, a cleanser you can buy at Home Depot, reacts with lead and makes the new compound inert. Another thread mentions cleaning lead out of your pot with a 1:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Maybe you can research both as an option.

IT IS NOT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE and AMMONIA!!!!! That can be EXTREMELY VOLATILE it can EXPLODE !!!!!!! It’s hydrogen and vinegar!!! A big difference!! And even if that what’s left after cleaning is extremely toxic and certainly does not make it suitable for cooking!!
Broke my own rule again but I certainly wasn’t gonna let another fellow foreign member blow himself up.

[dondiego]

I've read that TSP, a cleanser you can buy at Home Depot, reacts with lead and makes the new compound inert. Another thread mentions cleaning lead out of your pot with a 1:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Maybe you can research both as an option.

You might be able to remove the lead but you won't make it inert.

[BamaNapper]

Ok, I've got to ask. Why the concern about lead contamination of cast iron? If I was buying a dutch oven from a flea market, I'd be more concerned the previous owner stored pesticides in it as opposed to lead. I'm just not sure I understand how lead would even be introduced to cast iron. Maybe from an old house with lead paint? But it doesn't seem possible it could work into the cast iron. Maybe a trace hiding in the seasoning of the pan? But I'm sure that's removed and the pan re-seasoned before using it to cook in. Please pardon my ignorance, and learn me something. Y'all are apparently more tuned into this than I am.

Oh, and I googled up TCP for lead removal because that one was news to me. It turns out the government recommends TCP as a cleaner, but the NIH says (after real lab testing on surface contamination) that plain old soap and water works just as well. Go figure, the government can't get its story straight.

[openbook]

Ok, I've got to ask. Why the concern about lead contamination of cast iron?

I guess it just happens when your wife relinquishes a cast iron cooking pot to you for melting down wheelweights, and you start to wonder, how many of the cast irons floating around the world have been used for this?

I'm actually really interested to see how this thread develops as I've thought about asking this same question myself. I will never let me cast iron wheel weight pot go without either destroying it until it's unfit for use, or permanently marking it as used for lead - unsafe for food use. If I'm wrong, I look forward to finding out!

[triggerhappy243]

Ok, I've got to ask. Why the concern about lead contamination of cast iron? If I was buying a dutch oven from a flea market, I'd be more concerned the previous owner stored pesticides in it as opposed to lead. I'm just not sure I understand how lead would even be introduced to cast iron. Maybe from an old house with lead paint? But it doesn't seem possible it could work into the cast iron. Maybe a trace hiding in the seasoning of the pan? But I'm sure that's removed and the pan re-seasoned before using it to cook in. Please pardon my ignorance, and learn me something. Y'all are apparently more tuned into this than I am.

Oh, and I googled up TCP for lead removal because that one was news to me. It turns out the government recommends TCP as a cleaner, but the NIH says (after real lab testing on surface contamination) that plain old soap and water works just as well. Go figure, the government can't get its story straight.

SIR...................... I do not know if it was used for lead. Hence the need/desire to test it for lead. I need another cast iron pan to make home fries.
If it has been used for lead, then I will alter it with a tag saying soo. All I am asking, is what can I use to detect lead traces.

[justindad]

IT IS NOT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE and AMMONIA!!!!! That can be EXTREMELY VOLATILE it can EXPLODE !!!!!!! It’s hydrogen and vinegar!!! A big difference!! And even if that what’s left after cleaning is extremely toxic and certainly does not make it suitable for cooking!!
Broke my own rule again but I certainly wasn’t gonna let another fellow foreign member blow himself up.

Correct. Peroxide, ammonia, and bleach are three things that should never be mixed with other chemicals, unless you have Chemical Engineering degree. Products of these chemical reactions are not only volatile, but lethal gasses.

[BamaNapper]

SIR...................... I do not know if it was used for lead. Hence the need/desire to test it for lead. I need another cast iron pan to make home fries.
If it has been used for lead, then I will alter it with a tag saying soo. All I am asking, is what can I use to detect lead traces.

Good enough reason for me. In this hobby cast iron gets used for lead, so our brains automatically go that way. I only asked because the number of cast iron pots and pans out there is incalculable, with the number used for lead smelting microscopic in comparison. I totally understand your thinking and don't think negatively about testing what you come across. I've bought used pots and pans and apparently went with the assumption they were used for cooking. I was just wondering if there was an issue with cast iron I hadn't heard of.

As for my old cast iron smelting pan, I drilled a couple holes in the bottom before dropping it into the recycling bin in case someone was tempted to use it for food.

I'll keep an eye on the thread. I'm curious as well about the testing.

[Big Boomer]

Interesting thread, but I'm on the opposite side of the OP's position. I have a large dutch oven that I used to melt down wheel weights years ago. However, I converted a propane gas tank (cut in half around the middle) to melt down wheel weights since then. Would like to sell this dutch oven to another boolit caster but would not want that person to do any cooking of food in it. Too dangerous. If any of you folk know anyone looking for a dutch oven to melt down wheel weights, send them my way. Big Boomer

[dondiego]

SIR...................... I do not know if it was used for lead. Hence the need/desire to test it for lead. I need another cast iron pan to make home fries.
If it has been used for lead, then I will alter it with a tag saying soo. All I am asking, is what can I use to detect lead traces.

I have heard that they sell wipes that detect the presence of lead. You wipe the surface in question and if there is a color change lead is present. Sorry for no link.

[blackthorn]

Any used cast pot/pan etc. I acquire that is to be used for food, gets turned upside down in a good sized camp fire, covered with coals and allowed to remain there until the fire goes cold. The item is then tested for lead residue, cleaned and re-seasoned before I use it.

[waksupi]

I would give it a good soak and scrub with lye water, then re-season and not worry about it.

[openbook]

Any used cast pot/pan etc. I acquire that is to be used for food, gets turned upside down in a good sized camp fire, covered with coals and allowed to remain there until the fire goes cold. The item is then tested for lead residue, cleaned and re-seasoned before I use it.

Blackthorn, I like the method you describe for purging the pot. What is your method for lead testing?

[WRideout]

Any environmental lab can test for lead in a wipe test. A common baby wipe, straight out of the box (wear disposable gloves) is used to firmly wipe the inside of the utensil. It is then sealed in a plastic bag and labeled. in another bag, put an unused wipe and label. The unused one is the control. Be careful not to cross contaminate. Send them to the lab with a chain of custody sheet. The report will come back as lead per square foot.

If you are worried about lead coming out of the iron with high heat, you may be able to go to a contractor who checks houses with an XRF (X-ray fluorescence gun). If you talk to them nice they might be willing to do a single shot on the utensil and give you an immediate reading. Otherwise, pour some pure mineral acid in the pot, and let it set for a bit. Then pour a sample of the acid into a new glass jar with a non-metallic lid. The acid can be tested at a lab for dissolved lead. Again, pour a clean sample of the acid into another jar as the control. The lab can advise you on packaging, handling and paperwork.

Hope this helps.

Wayne

[blackthorn]

Blackthorn, I like the method you describe for purging the pot. What is your method for lead testing?

Someone gave me a couple of test kits years ago and I just have used those. I do not have any left and I do not know where to get them. At 84 I have accumulated all the cast iron cookware I will ever need so, the likelihood of my needing to test more is very unlikely.

[35 Rem]

My thoughts on this subject is that the likelihood of any individual cast iron cookware ever having lead in it is so infinitesimally low that I wouldn't worry about it. It's about as likely to happen as winning the big Powerball type lotteries. I have been a rabid gun nut since I was 14 and am now 62. As expected many of my friendships have come about because of our mutual enthusiasm for guns. In all those years I've only personally known 3 bullet casters. Many have loaded their own ammo but only 3 cast bullets and one of those has only dabbled in casting a tiny bit. People who load their own ammo represent only a small percentage of total shooter. Reloaders who cast their own bullets are a very tiny portion of even that small group. Bullet casting is such an obscure portion of the gun world that we aren't even a blip on a graph of users of cast iron vessels capable of melting lead alloys.