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I am hoping someone can help me consider if there are any factors that would make the use of lead fishing sinkers such as these in the shower risky enough to stop doing it. Specifically, they are being used as weights to hold the bottom of a shower curtain in place in a bathroom with a very small shower whos curtain has a tendency to get blown inwards.

First of all, I am aware lead is not good for me or the environment, period. I am also aware this is not a health related stack exchange, and I am aware that this question may be asinine. The only people living in this house are 25+ y.o. and we will obviously not be drinking the shower water or going out of our way to play with them.

With all that out of the way, what I am specifically looking to know is if there is potential for chlorine or anything generally in city water (Pittsburgh, PA USA, if that helps) to react with the lead and form some compound that is more dangerous than simple contact with a lead ball infrequently. I am a computer engineer, so organic chemistry is far outside of my wheelhouse, but in my mind, there is also potential for this to be relatively safe as I have heard of city water using lead corrosion inhibitors to protect old lead pipes and mitigate their risks.

For some added context, I have added pictures of the sinkers after a few months in the shower and brand new. Looking forward to learning something!

Lead sinkers with opaque white coating after a few months of use: Lead sinkers with opaque white coating after a few months of use

Brand new lead sinkers: Brand new lead sinkers, shiny grey color

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't think lead is dangerous in these circumstances. Moreover, the brand new things do not even look like lead! $\endgroup$
    – Ivan Neretin
    Commented Apr 12, 2023 at 7:48
  • $\begingroup$ @IvanNeretin Probably just a result of the poor image quality, it had to be heavily cropped to fit in the 2MB upload limit, but the packaging/website states they are lead and from my little experience with lead, these definitely fit what I remember. Thank you for your input though! $\endgroup$
    – Douglas B
    Commented Apr 12, 2023 at 14:38
  • $\begingroup$ They might be lead with some thin coating of a different metal. $\endgroup$
    – Ivan Neretin
    Commented Apr 12, 2023 at 14:49
  • $\begingroup$ As long as you don't have pets, or small children, or an adult exhibiting pica, that might swallow one, it might be OK. Lead can be coated with carbonate, reducing rate of reaction with water. Why not use nonlead weights, e.g., amazon.com/s?k=non-lead+split-shot+weight ? However, this seems to border on a personal medical question. $\endgroup$
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented Apr 13, 2023 at 1:17
  • $\begingroup$ @DrMoishePippik availability and density are my two main considerations, to my knowledge nothing I can buy is going to be as effective for a similar size, and I already have to line the entire bottom edge of the curtain to keep it from blowing in as it is narrow and tall. It is indeed a borderline medical question, but as I mention my main concern is with any checmistry that I may be unaware of which could form a more dangerous lead compound than I would encounter with elemental lead in normal conditions. I would say that is more chemical than medical, although they go hand in hand here. $\endgroup$
    – Douglas B
    Commented Apr 13, 2023 at 2:48

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