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How to clean out lead contaminated(?) cast iron

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Rifleman1776 said:
How this question can generate more than one or two responses is puzzling.
.
Click to expand...

I guess, I had gotten so far into all the posts, I forgot about the pot known to have been used to melt lead. I was thinking more about testing garage sale cast iron, when I revived this topic with the post about the 3m testers. :idunno:
 
How this question can generate more than one or two responses is puzzling.
The drilled holes idea is good.
Mine is a sledge hammer.
Do not use for food. Destroy.
Click to expand...

Uh, NO.

I'd either still use it for lead, OR... trade it to somebody who is using an iron pot as a "planter" (no not everybody puts a hole in them), and use the old planter if it tests neg for lead as a cooking pot. OR, plant some begonnias in it, sell it as a planter, and use the money I got to buy some pure lead for bullets.

LD
 
Sean Gadhar said:
Rifleman1776 said:
How this question can generate more than one or two responses is puzzling.
.
Click to expand...

I guess, I had gotten so far into all the posts, I forgot about the pot known to have been used to melt lead. I was thinking more about testing garage sale cast iron, when I revived this topic with the post about the 3m testers. :idunno:
Click to expand...


The garage sale issue, while valid, is, IMHO, a negligible concern.
Keep in mind, us shooters and casters are a pretty small group in the general population. The chances of getting a cast iron pot at a garage sale that was used for lead is a skillion to one.
But, when it is known one was used for lead, discard is the only safe and responsible thing to do.
 
while I dont have a pot with lead I did come across something very interesting....I found a pot at a pawn shop a while ago....with some residual red goo of unknown substance. I boiled the pot clean...then threw it a fireplace over night... put some water in it for about a week...and on a whim I tested the water with an aquarium testing kit to see what was in it...and by god the Nitrates and Ammonia levels were off t he charts! and this was even after cleaning ..boiling and fire heating! needless to say Im thinking it had fertilizer or somehting like it, in the pot....so onw its been turned into a really heavy cactus pot in my living room lol
 
I have a hard time believing a paint chip has more lead in it than a no. 6 shot. Any bird hunter has ingested plenty of these through the years with no ill effects, other than a possible broken tooth on occasion.
 
There is not really a way that I would consider safe and effective to decontaminate your pot. But, you might try giving it a thorough scrubbing with an abrasive pad and some scouring powder but before using it for food, I'd get one of the lead test kits and make sure that all lead contamination has been removed. The kits can be purchased from some drug stores but I got mine from a safety supply store in Texas City. Just Google "Lead test kit" and see who has them for sale. don't use the pot for food until you have tested it and know it to be free of any lead contamination. Be safe, not sorry. Good luck. :hatsoff: I still say that the best thing to do is to drill it or smash it so it is not used for food use.
 
Very interesting subject.
I see old cast iron at sales,etc. Also there is a newere group of folks who seek this stuff out for use.
I would never want to use an unknown cast iron piece for cooking.
You never know what was put in them.

I bought a 8 ninch skillet at a sale and use it for lead sometimes.
You can't tell by looking. I should mark it or something.

Conversly, I found a Dutch oven in an old house 45 years ago and have used it regularly since-I seem to be going strong. Luck might factor in.
 
I just leave lead in the pot. When I pass on then it will be very obvious that it is a lead pot. From there it is on whoever gets it to be smart enough to know lead is a danger. If someone out there hasn't gotten the lead is dangerous message then they must live under a rock.
 
Mulebrain said:
Usually you can tell, based on the condition. I have restored a bunch of it by sanblasting. There is no way to tell for sure if lead was ever melted in it!

I like to throw cast iron in a real hot fire upside down. Then once it cools, it gets sand blasted then re-seasoned. This method would probably render it safe.

Mule

I am still alive :crackup:
Click to expand...
Came across this thread while looking for a method of cleanup on a big auction lot I got contaminated with lead. Lots of rare antique pans worth a small fortune if I can get the sweet metal off completely. Seeing as you posted this 19 years ago, and your account is still active; I have to ask - has the lead got you yet? If not, what's your process?
 
Do not get rid of the pot, even if you stop cooking in it! There are dozens of PC uses that do not involve cooking and this pot still has a place in your camp.

boiling clothes for washing
boiling dye
boiling soap
rendering tallow
hanging from a tripod and looking cool

After you have used it for some of these activities you will feel assured that the lead has cooked out.

One of my friends has a cast iron curing party every fall. We dump any questionable cast iron into the big fire heat it up cherry red and leave it there overnight. I've eaten out of those pots many times and nothing has hurt me yet..hurt me yet...hurt me yet !!

:front:
Click to expand...
Get rid of it or drill holes in the bottom to keep someone years from now who does not know what it was used for from cooking with it.
I never buy cast iron cooking pots or pans at garage sales, estate sales, or flea markets because you never know what it may have been used for, even once.
 
I was melting some lead in a frying pan lined with tin foil and let the pan get too hot melting the tin foil and contaminating the pan. I melted the lead out of the pan, scrubbed it good and put it back in cooking service. That was about a year ago. Hard to tell if it has had any ill effects on me as the symptoms of lead poisoning are about the same as getting old so six of one and half a dozen of the other. I am now old.
 
I would not knowingly use a cast iron pan that had been used for casting but that’s just me. The effects of lead poisoning are suptle and are especially dangerous to infants and children.
 
Ed C. said:
I was melting some lead in a frying pan lined with tin foil and let the pan get too hot melting the tin foil and contaminating the pan. I melted the lead out of the pan, scrubbed it good and put it back in cooking service. That was about a year ago. Hard to tell if it has had any ill effects on me as the symptoms of lead poisoning are about the same as getting old so six of one and half a dozen of the other. I am now old.
Click to expand...
Kansas Jake said:
I would not knowingly use a cast iron pan that had been used for casting but that’s just me. The effects of lead poisoning are suptle and are especially dangerous to infants and children.
Click to expand...

One could always get a lead testing kit, and see if one gets a positive reaction, right? You might also do this on a garage sale or flea market cast iron. Lead test swabs will give you results in 30 seconds. TRUE might be tedious in a large pot. On the other hand, if you get a positive result with the first swab, you need not go further, eh?

LD
 
Now we got everyone who has bought any cast iron pots or skillets wondering. What did the previous owner use that pot for? I got one hanging in the garage that had been used in lead melting. The person who finds or buys it 20 years from now just may decide to fry some food in it after cleaning it up. Maybe drilling holes in it ain't such a bad idea.
 
InsaniT said:
Came across this thread while looking for a method of cleanup on a big auction lot I got contaminated with lead. Lots of rare antique pans worth a small fortune if I can get the sweet metal off completely. Seeing as you posted this 19 years ago, and your account is still active; I have to ask - has the lead got you yet? If not, what's your process?
Click to expand...
Why do you call it”sweet metal”
Why not just call it lead?
 
mingo said:
Very interesting subject.
I see old cast iron at sales,etc. Also there is a newere group of folks who seek this stuff out for use.
I would never want to use an unknown cast iron piece for cooking.
You never know what was put in them.

I bought a 8 ninch skillet at a sale and use it for lead sometimes.
You can't tell by looking. I should mark it or something.

Conversly, I found a Dutch oven in an old house 45 years ago and have used it regularly since-I seem to be going strong. Luck might factor in.
Click to expand...
Is there some kind of cheap chemical test kit that be bought And used
 

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