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I wanted to put something in my paint pots to help with agitation. I've searched and read that copper and steel can react. Most people think lead is ok (minus the whole licking of your brush thing).

The only thing I found locally was tin sinkers (for fishing) and wanted to know if anyone has experience with those and if they may corrode or react with the paint.

Why not wait till you finish a spray can and gut it for its internals?

Because puncturing a spray can (even if empty) is not something I would recommend unless you have a pre-booked bed waiting at your local ER.

Not sure about the tin. If you can't get a definitive answer on that, though, there are other options.

Glass is nonreactive, relatively dense, and easy to source - marbles, beads, and decorative filler (for floral arrangements, etc.) of various sizes are available at any craft store and work rather well as agitators, provided you use something large enough. Pots can fit just about any reasonable agitator, but make sure your object can clear the neck, if using dropper bottles.

Rocks are another potential option. Less control over the composition than with glass, but odds are against reactivity. Small river rocks are best, as they're generally smooth and round-ish (oblong ones mean more weight while still fitting through a narrow neck!), meaning they're both easy to clean and unlikely to fracture during shaking. Besides, they've spent plenty of time in water - you'll be able to see immediately if there are any discolored inclusions that might affect the paint.

As for harvesting the ball from a rattle can... I wouldn't. Even if you consider chromedog's warning hyperbole, it's not worth the effort for a single ceramic (if memory serves) ball of indeterminate size, which may not even fit in your particular paint container.

I just use plastic BB's myself

The probability that copper reacts is rather low. It depends on the special composition of course but copper is quite high on the noble metal scale.

Tin or zinc on the other hand could react.

Glass is a allways a good idea. There's barely a substance that reacts with that and none of them are in household products.

Agreed - glass is a great non-reactor if you are concerned about it. However, I've heard people using all sorts of stuff in their paint without problem.

While they might not react with the paint itself, both tin and copper may start to corrode through contact with the water in the paint. While it might not be a major problem you might end up with grains of oxide in the paint. Glass would be a better route if you want to have something that won't affect the paint at all. A chunk of gold would also be suitable

Thanks for the advice everyone. The corrosion in contact with the water was my biggest concern.

I thought I read somewhere that glass could eventually corrode. Something about the pH?

By the time the glass reacts if it does, we will probably be too dead to paint.

But your children's children might see an effect...