Hello, I recently read on a log burner forum that some of the nails used to construct pallets have coatings of lead, mercury and other hazardous materials. It was a warning to people burning pallets in log burners which were widely castigated.

I have burnt a lot of pallets and have never found any evidence in the form of solidified lead or liquid mercury amongst the ashes. However, I was sufficiently concerned to conduct an internet search which produced no results.

I disassemble heat-treated or kiln-dried pallets only for both lumber and firewood. I remove the steel nails from the ash with a magnet and recycle them as iron scrap when I have enough. The ash I spread around my garden but will have to reconsider this as I don’t want to be spreading hazardous material in my garden.

Does anyone know if there is any credence to this reference of pallet nails containing such chemicals?