Testing a Cast Iron Cookie Mold for Lead

Testing a cast iron cookie mold for lead residue. This is a 1980s John Wright cast iron cookie mold, which I managed to score for a decent price on eBay. The pan needs to be cleaned up; but it also had a suspicious silvery residue on it. This suggests it MIGHT have been used for melting lead, as has happened to a number of cast iron pans over the years. In this video, we use a 3M surface lead paint test to see if the residue contains lead.

In general, the chances of any particular piece of cast iron having lead are very, very small -- but not impossible. People, unfortunately, use cast iron pans to melt lead for things like fishing weights. Look on YouTube and you'll see many videos of this, with people using everything from muffin pans to dutch ovens for melting lead. That's why we do advise testing an unknown cast iron for lead, if you have reason to be suspicious.

There are lead test kits that can usually be found in hardware stores or online for testing of traces of lead it you feel you would like to do so. Make sure it says it is for metal, and not just assume the paint one will work. Always contact the vendor to make sure. A popular and simple lead test is the 3M Surface Lead Paint Test Kit, available at nearly any decent hardware or home improvement store.

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