BBQ Grill Brushes can be deadly

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

My nephew joined the Marines and left this morning for boot camp. Yesterday my sister had family over for a bbq to say goodbye. One of his friends stopped over and he had a burger. Later he said he tasted metal when he took the first bite. He started complaining about severe pain in his throat. To make a long story short, he ended up in the hospital and had surgery early this morning. They lost whatever it was. Not sure if he swallowed it or if they suctioned it out. Now they have to do tests to see if it's still inside.

The most important part of this post is that most likely he swallowed a bristle from the grill brush. In May another NJ man almost died from the same thing. See http://www.northjersey.com/news/heal...tml?c=y&page=1 As you can see from the article, this has happened several times.

If you have an old grill brush, throw it away NOW.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I only use the scraper part since I lost all my bristles a few years ago. I find the scraper works best. I also spray water with it. What works best is covering the grill with Foil and turn up the heat. Acts like a self cleaning oven

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

WOW!! What a tip!!! Who'd a thought! Thanks for posting ~ I'll have to tell DH!

[PHILL12 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PHILL12]

We also use a brush and have for years and never thought about this!

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

Wow. Hope he is OK. Thanks for the heads up!

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

This is not uncommon. Our local tv station just did a story on this last week. The bristles are breaking off and people are swallowing it with the food. TIme to find a different way to clean the grill. I like Frank's. shaggy

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

We are king of lucky as we always lose the brush / scrapper most every year.

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

Update - the friend is home and the tests couldn't find the object. The Dr./hospital asked for the brush. I assume to see if the bristles match the xrays.

[mkarizona Member Find all posts View Profile Close mkarizona]

Thanks for posting this. I will definitely pass this on to friends and family.

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

The original link no longer works. Try this one http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/...m-grill-brush/

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

The original link no longer works. Try this one http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/...m-grill-brush/

Pat, when your link didn't work, I found a few that had similar articles warning of the danger in other areas, too, one in LA. I'm so sorry this happened to your friend, but thank you for letting us know. I just gave friends my old grill, and they took my old brush - that was the first email I sent. Have also shared with others. It makes so much sense, and shouldn't be hard to come up with a reasonable alternative for cleaning our grills.

I hope he is doing better. What an ordeal.

[pkyorkbeach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pkyorkbeach]

Thank you for letting us know about this.