Dangerous Stainless Steel

[Blue Ring Octopus]

So I know this is for aquarium topics but I saw something claiming that there is dangerous counterfeit Stainless steel and it can poison you, so I was wonder if some knows how to test if stainless steel is real or stainless Chemistry is Chemistry and not just for aquariums. Thanks in advance

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m not sure what material it is that is the concern. Maybe it is just contaminated stainless. I’m not aware of any test one can easily do to tell.

 

[UncommonSense]

So I know this is for aquarium topics but I saw something claiming that there is dangerous counterfeit Stainless steel and it can poison you, so I was wonder if some knows how to test if stainless steel is real or stainless Chemistry is Chemistry and not just for aquariums. Thanks in advance

I’d imagine this is most concerning with cookware/utensils, wherein you could theoretically see the likes of lead in the alloy as a worst-case scenario…

I’m not particularly familiar with lead tests outside of water, but I’d think a cost effective method would exist! (Short of using XRF or the likes)


— I find this trade fraud most frequently as “upselling” the stainless steel grade of a product… for example, selling 304 grade stainless steel nuts/bolts/washers as “marine grade 316 stainless steel”…

(this said, there are numerous grades of stainless steel, and they are not all created equal… I try to avoid products which don’t list a specific grade!)

Edit: it’s worth mentioning that even “marine grade” 316 stainless steel will still slowly corrode if immersed in saltwater… this is a non-issue for marine boats in the ocean, but can lead to elevated zinc and chromium levels in our small closed systems!

 

[commod0re]

There are different kinds of stainless steel, with different properties. As far as I know the most common form of “conterfeit” stainless is sometimes chromoly steel is misrepresented as stainless when it isn’t, or as @UncommonSense said, overrating steel like 302 or 304 as being 316

A relevant saying I find memorable is that it’s called stainless because it stains less, not none

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Thanks everyone I saw a video and they claimed that cheap counterfeits if cook with can lead to some kind of poisoning, this was in another country, I guess the cheap and easy way to see how good the SS is just use a magnet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If there is lead in the stainless, a magnet won’t detect it.

 

[Shirak]

Thanks everyone I saw a video and they claimed that cheap counterfeits if cook with can lead to some kind of poisoning, this was in another country, I guess the cheap and easy way to see how good the SS is just use a magnet.

Depends on the type. Some are non magnetic to slightly magnetic and others are very magnetic. Magnet won't tell you much other than help identify if it's 304, 316 vs 400 types which have more iron in them.

If you are looking for marine grade 316 vs the much more common 304 then you need a molybdenum spot test kit. This won't tell you if there are contaminates though like heavy metals..Maybe a test kit from hardware store designed to test paints etc for lead.