Barbecuing may be a hazard to your health—but not for the reason you’re thinking. Recently, two different incidents of men accidentally ingesting metal bristles from a grill-cleaning brush have made BBQers think twice about what they’re putting in their mouths. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, check your grill’s manual to see which type of brush you should be using. Inspect your brush periodically, and if any bristles have fallen or broken off, it’s time to get a new one.

Read the full article here:
Brittle metal brush bristles can pose a barbecue hazard – ConsumerReports.org

For years we have been worning clients away from metal bristled brushes because of the harm done to the protective coating on the grill parts.  When steel or cast iron is coated with a porcelain enamel th abrasive brush slowly — or faster depending on usage -  will wear away the coating.  Eventuall the cast or other materiel will oxidize.

When the grates and other grill parts are good quality stainless steel we suggest using a wire wheel on a drill or screw gun because the wire wheel will get grease off fast and high-quality stainless will not be harmed byt the spinning wire brush.

This article is completely new to me though!  Someone ate a bristle from the grill brush?!  All I can say is what we tell our customers when they ask:  use a good degreaser with a hose and maybe one of the abrasive pads like the bacvk side of the sponge.