Lead solders
Lead soldersLead solder was once used to seal the side seams of food cans, and lead migrated from the seam into the contents. The FDA prohibited it, and US canners moved to welded seams; this is a prohibition on a material used to make food packaging rather than on anything added to food.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Prohibited | Prohibited from indirect addition to human food through food-contact surfaces. | 21 CFR 189.240retrieved 2026-09-07 |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
An alloy of lead and tin used to join metal. It is not an ingredient and never was: it is listed here because 21 CFR 189 Subpart D prohibits substances from reaching food indirectly, through the surfaces food touches.
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
As it appears in regulation
- Lead solders
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Sources for this page
- ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/lead-solders.json