I disassembled my mash tun today to rejigger things a little bit. I've used this mash tun for about 2 years, after receiving it from a friend, and done about 20 - 5 gallon batches in it.
My manifold is all copper/brass, but during disassembly, I found a washer that is in contact with the mash that looked blackened and rusty. I'm guessing it's galvanized, and has been stripping/stripped of the zinc coating.
Now, I haven't gotten sick from my beer, and neither has anyone else, so I'm not concerned about Zinc poisoning.
But should I be concerned about lead leaching from the steel? How about other potential heavy metals that might have been in the zinc galvanization- I've read cadmium and other stuff can present as impurities in zinc coatings.
I've got some OCD and can't stop thinking about potentially killing myself/ my family with heavy metals, just because I was too lazy to tear the tun apart earlier.
My manifold is all copper/brass, but during disassembly, I found a washer that is in contact with the mash that looked blackened and rusty. I'm guessing it's galvanized, and has been stripping/stripped of the zinc coating.
Now, I haven't gotten sick from my beer, and neither has anyone else, so I'm not concerned about Zinc poisoning.
But should I be concerned about lead leaching from the steel? How about other potential heavy metals that might have been in the zinc galvanization- I've read cadmium and other stuff can present as impurities in zinc coatings.
I've got some OCD and can't stop thinking about potentially killing myself/ my family with heavy metals, just because I was too lazy to tear the tun apart earlier.