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My bee equipment supplier (stainless equiptment) told me that there
are a lot of bee keepers that are not using stainless.
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Our extractor is a 30-frame Woodman made in the 1940's.  The tank is
galvanized, and all other parts including the reel are painted steel.  It
works fine for what we need, and although I bought some food grade epoxy
paint to seal it, I haven't gotten around to applying it in three years.
 
Honey is acidic, and will eat away some metals, including the zinc that makes
up a galvanized surface.  If the zinc is gone, the underlying steel will
rust.  If you hose the extractor out whenever you're done extracting, then
the metal won't deteriorate.  I don't think you need to worry about heavy
metals in the honey unless you store it in a galvanized container.  Look out
for lead soldering, too, and don't store the honey in contact with it.
 
We use both stainless and galvanized settling tanks, but don't leave the
honey in anything except the stainless one.
 
With this in mind, some localities require health department certification on
honey houses and honey processing equipment, at least for honey sold retail.
 Oregon, for instance, requires that all retail honey (except that sold from
your house) be processed in a licensed honey house.   They have this to say:
 "Equipment material shall be hard surface non-lead type finish, that will
not permit reaction of the acid in honey.  Exposed galvanized, aluminum, or
iron allow honey to readily pick up lead, zinc, or steel ions.  Steel or
galvanized equipment may be protected with tinning or baked on lacquer."
 
Your state Agriculture Department will have someone that can tell you what is
legal where you live.  The food grade paint is what most people that I have
talked to advise.  Walter Kelley sells it, or order it from your local paint
store.  Buy some food grade lubricating grease, too.
 
Kevin