Lead metal removal/mitigation in old kitchen appliance

Question

I received a brass pepper grinder like this:

Maybe it's a modern reproduction but it certainly has patina and does not look like Pottery Barn. Unfortunately the giver helpfully melted scrap lead and poured some into the base to make it heavier and to keep it from toppling over as these things tend to do. Unfortunately lead metal is easy to buy and melt and they did not realise that the kitchen is the last place you want it.

I'm not about to use it with solid lead in the part that collects the pepper. What can be done to make it usable again? Would covering that lead with some food-safe epoxy be enough? It is never going to be heated or washed, I just want to grind pepper - especially when you want a lot of pepper, like for salt & pepper squid - and then be able to tip it out and use it.

(The giver would really like to see it on the kitchen table...)

Answer 1

On this site, when it comes to questions about food safety we defer to official guidance (overcautious though it may be). In this situation, you won’t find much official guidance, simply because the idea is absurd. Lead has been banned in cookware for (IIRC) more than a century. While creating an epoxy barrier might be sufficient, it would be difficult to ensure that this was done correctly, or that the barrier did not crack or otherwise fail over time.

It's a nice looking grinder. Use your epoxy to glue it shut so it can never be accidentally used (remove and discard the grinding surfaces, just to be certain), and put it on a display shelf. That, at least, should be safe.

Answer 2

If it's "actually old" (and perhaps even if it isn't) the brass itself very likely has lead in it.

You could test, I suppose, but that seems pointless since it definitely has a bottom full of lead now.

If the brass is unleaded (which apparently means low, rather than no, lead, usually) and the lower part permits (unclear since you don't show it opened,) perhaps a closely-fitting stainless steel cup could be found or fabricated to positively separate food from lead.

But given why brass is commonly leaded (makes it easier to machine, etc.) odds are it's leaded brass, unless it's quite new and made somewhere that cares more about food safety than "this is the way we've aways made them."

There is actually a protocol to delead the surface of leaded brass which can be done with common household chemicals. Two parts white vinegar to one part 3% hydrogen peroxide, soak the part for 5 minutes or less (not more) - the brass should turn a "buttery yellow" color (and you should stop and rinse at that point) - if left too long and turning green, copper is being dissolved exposing more lead, so do not overdo. But that won't do a thing for a lump of lead in the bottom.

Personally, I think there are plenty of options for grinding pepper that don't involve brass or lead, and as for the giver wanting to see it used: they are the person that chose to pour lead into it.

Answer 3

Lead is only harmful in contact, so if you can safely separate from it, I would try - at least to show the giver it works. Later, you can put it on a shelf - it looks really nice.