Are trace amounts of lead in seasoned bakeware safe?
I want to order a custom-cut steel plate to use like baking steel in the oven, and I read that in common raw steels the trace amount of lead can get up to 0.36%.
If I season the steel like I would cast iron, and only use it to make pizza and bread on it, could that trace amount of lead be harmful?
Edit: I just found out that 0.35% is the allowed amount of added lead to machinable steels. The maximum amount found in common raw steels is limited to 0.1%, and in practice probably a lot lower than that.
Best Answer
I, and in general we, cannot answer if something is safe. There are instances where we can say something is clearly unsafe, but when dealing with things like is this piece of metal safe for cooking we are not equipped to give anything but anecdotal answers and partially informed opinions.
The only safety answer that is actually reliable would come from lab testing and that is why we shell out tax dollars and public funding for organizations like UL and USDA in the US and similar organizations in other countries. They do testing and declare metal products, glass, plastics, etc. to be food grade or not food grade according to their composition and reactivity to normal food products. They are not always correct, but their declarations are made from testing results, not guesses and partially informed opinions, mine or anyone else's.
Also an opinion, but one that I think is really the only prudent and reasonable one to make is get a product that is rated food grade, not a custom made item you or others think is safe. The amount of toxins in the metal may well be low, well within standards, but that does not say it is not in a reactive form which will enter you food on first contact with a slightly acid item, and lead may even be one of your least concerns. A piece of steal which was not manufactured under food grade conditions could have many other toxins that are not permitted in food grade manufacturing, permitted because they are in low amounts that are safe for the intended use but become readily transferred to food.
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WARNING! Does CAST IRON from CHINA contain LEAD?
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Answer 2
Unless you are paying a premium for "free machining" steel , there is "no " lead in it. Normal steel will have < 0.02 % lead. And "free machining" plate or sheet would be a very unusual product ; free machining is typically bar product , most likely containing sulfur and maybe lead.
Answer 3
Numbers aside, with the amount of steel that most food comes in contact with during packaging, processing, and shipping, your baking sheet would be the least of your concerns.
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