Is there still a call for red lead?

Title says most of it.

I have a pail with several pounds of red lead that came from a friend. Is this still being used or should I take it to haz mat disposal?

Ed.

Dump out the acid from a car battery and fill it with your red lead if you want to get rid of it without anyone freaking out. Its just lead oxides.

Red lead oxide provides an excellent corrosion protection (as paint)and is very effective as a primer. If overprinted with other paint the lead is not exposed and quite safe. I do not know, however, if it can be used commercially, but certainly useful around the shop or farm.

Some people, me included, still use it and prefer it to other alternatives as a marking compound. Sometimes used as a lubricant as well. I'm sure you'll find a home for it.

I agree with Derek, but I would never use it again. The majority of all the men I worked with in my career also used it and I would say 98% of them died of cancer. Not lead poisoning, so it may just be a coincidence or not. I used to use it until I started to teach at GM and was damn near shown to the door when a safety man dropped in to one of classes. I will never take the chance again. Those guys all smoked like chimney's too, I will not be recommending it to anyone to use .

You've not been able to get red Lead over here for a long while now. I remember being sent to the works store as an apprentice in the 1960's to get red Lead powder and castor oil. The fitter I was working with had me mix it all up in a bucket to a thick paste. We used it for sealing joints on steam vessels. It came out a bit like the " Stag " jointing paste that you could buy in tins.

The same bloke once sent me for white Lead powder and castor oil. Again he ( me really, apprentices got all the good jobs ! ) mixed it all up in a bucket. He kept the paste and drained off the oil mixture.

This was to use with a very large ( 20" dia ) phosphor bronze bearing that was running really hot. He emptied the grease " Staufer " that was on the bearing and refilled it with the oil/white Lead mixture. After about 15 minutes he emptied the " Staufer " again and filled it with the white Lead paste. Within about an hour the bearing had cooled down. We never had any trouble with that bearing again in my time there.

Regards Tyrone.

I should have added -

While I was mixing up the red lead and castor oil paste I noticed a woman worker was watching me closely. She was an Eastern European immigrant, maybe Polish or Ukrainian, she was about 50 years old and built like Jake LaMotta.

She asked me what I was doing, when I told her she said - " If you are going to throw the liquid part of the mix away can I have it ? "

I said " Yeah, no problem, but what do you want it for ? "

She said " I'm going to paint the underside of my car with it. "

Regards Tyrone.

I would take to the haz mat disposal. There is one down on hwy 45 for paint and such if you are a Milwaukee County resident.