I pulled my rear bumper off a few weeks ago and the brackets had a pretty good coat of surface rust on them. I took one today and went at it with a wire wheel on my grinder in my basement. Normally I would do something like that in my garage, but its 3 degrees out there. Something occurred to me. Is the paint on these brackets likely leaded paint? I'm guessing the paint on them is original. If so, probably not a good idea to be stripping it off in my basement then with all the doors and windows closed. Did I poison myself? How long do I have to live! :)

For removing paint like that, I just use a hardware store variety paint stripper. Also, I use gasket remover product in an aerosol can (forget the brand name) which is essentially a paint stripper, I buy ir from O'Reillys. For removing rust from iron/steel (NOT ALUM!!!!!!) parts, I submerge the parts in muratic (hydrochloric, that's the acid in your stomach!) acid. Muratic is available in ANY hardware store for about $5/gal. I dilute the muratic about 1 part/2-3gal water (muratic is commonly used to clean swimming pools or excess mortar from fresh brick work on a building). You can store the muratic in any kind of plastic container such as a 5 gal paint bucket (be sure to keep the lid on it) or a 35gal tub from Walmart. I keep a 44gal tub out back about half full of muratic for stripping rust from big parts. Just submerge the part in the muratic for as long as needed (20min-6hrs) then THOROUGHLY RINSE IT OFF, mild soap/water is fine to neutralize any residual acid. I like to use a power washer. DRY IT IMMEDIATELY BEFORE MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE CREATES MORE SURFACE RUST, then paint. When iron/steel parts are stripped of rust with muratic, the part is pure bare metal and will start to rust REAL quick just from the moisture in the air!

BE ADVISED, IF MURATIC LEAKS OUT OF THE CONTAINER ONTO ANYTHING, IT WILL RUIN IT-----------------INCLUDING CONCRETE!!!!!!!!!!! I have to patch some BIG holes in the concrete slab behind my garage where the Walmart tub sprang a leak after sitting several months.

Yes, but no, you're not going to die from it.

Not a good idea to breathe anything but clean air. Kind of unrealistic sometimes, but you should try. I don't know specifically about the paint you refer to, but paint used in housing was generally unleaded after about 1976.

No, its not a good idea to work in an unventilated space indoors if you're going to produce airborne pollutants. Its not a good idea to breathe any: smokes, dusts, aerosols, vapors, fumes, or gases unless the doctors orders.

Even outside, I stay upwind if there is any, and make some with a fan if necessary. I always wear a dust mask at bare minimum and not a Harbor Freight three for a buck special type. I prefer 3M brand. Most effective if your clean-shaven. Three-day stubble is not helpful there.

Think about it, tobacco delivers its nicotine on the particles of smoke. Air delivers its oxygen directly. If it gets in your lungs, it gets in your blood, which gets in your brain, liver, kidneys, etc.

Protect your lungs, eyes, ears, fingers, toes etc. When they're gone, they're gone.

Strong acids and alkalis--pool acid/muriatic acid/hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide/Drano/oven cleaner, etc. do the job quick and effective, and have their place. I wouldn't have them around the house if any kids or foolish adults around though.

My $0.02

If you were going to use Muratic acid (which works REAL GOOD) why not try the electolysis method? That works just as well and is much safer. It does produce Hydrogen so make sure it's ventilated to the outdoors, but search here for the process on hooking up a 12V battery charger and try it out - works great!