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Better put your tinfoil hat back on and look under the bed for the boogeyman!
There is a heck of a lot of difference between iron and "heavy metals".
Neutralized acid is just that, NEUTRALIZED. It's not acid any more. Where I live the soil is basic, adding acid to the soil can actually make things grow better. In other parts of the US, the soil is acidic. What do you thing forms when dead leaves soak in a puddle of water? Tannic acid. What do you think when pure rainwater falls through the air that has some carbon dioxide in it, as Al Gore is so fond of reminding us? Carbonic acid. Acids and bases occur everywhere in nature.
On the other hand, anyone who dumps the contents of a lead/acid battery is putting more lead into the environment and needs to have a .45 caliber lead injection to make him stop. That's real.
Moparts is the place where everything can be made much more difficult and cost-prohibitive if one listens to all the advice.
R.
Your answer did not disappoint me in more ways then you likely would understand, thank you.
And AndrewH, I believe heavy metals are a concern, what the part was plated with and likely removed by the acid, or what alloys were used in the base metal, could become a part of the waste stream, ie cadmium in the plating , chrome in stainless, lead residue inside the exhaust manifold, etc 
Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
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