I mean, modulo edge cases, lead is a lot scarier than CO2; it's only because of the ridiculously obscene quantities of CO2 being produced that it's a more immanent threat. There's obviously not enough information yet to weigh the value/consequences of the amount of lead used here, but if your measure of whether something is a good idea for mitigating carbon emissions is just "it's not carbon emissions", you're going to find yourself kicking a can a bit down the road, or (much) worse.
Maybe they could pack it into epoxy encapsulated modules of standard size, so you could always reuse it in another motor or transformer or what have you, assuming you were willing to disassemble the scrapped gadget?
If you think carbon dioxide is scary, wait for your cup of Pepsi.
(Low toxicity of CO2 is actually one of the reasons it is not treated seriously enough).
