The reduction of CO2 emissions in steel production is a critical step in mitigating climate change. As the steel industry accounts for approximately 7 % of the global CO2 emissions, the transition from the blast furnace route to the more environmentally friendly electric arc furnace is gaining increasing attention. Although the increased use of scrap in the electric arc furnace reduces emissions, it also raises the burden of higher contents of tramp elements such as Cu, Cr, Mo, Sn, Zn, As, Sb, and Ni. This study investigates the influence of these tramp elements on the mechanical properties of a selection of various pearlitic steel grades, particularly with regard to the risk of temper embrittlement during reheating. For this purpose, a comparison was made within this work between samples produced from the conventional blast furnace process, which served as reference alloys, and samples from experimental alloys, which were intended to represent material produced with the electric arc furnace. Based on this, heat treatments were performed to simulate reheating, in order to assess the influence of tramp elements. Charpy impact tests were conducted in combination with Vickers hardness measurements, light microscopy, and fracture surface analysis using stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, measurements using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy were performed. For the hypoeutectoid steel grade, a decrease in toughness of the experimental alloy was observed, which was found to begin already in the untreated state and persisted after tempering treatment. The fracture type did not change from transgranular to intergranular, indicating the absence of temper embrittlement. Analysis using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy identified an increased number of manganese sulfides in the experimental alloy as a potential cause of embrittlement, which was confirmed by the results from the glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. In the eutectoid steel grade, a reduction in toughness of the experimental alloy was noted, but with a high variability in the measurements, making it impossible to draw a definitive conclusion regarding embrittlement. Here, no intergranular fracture was observed, which would indicate temper embrittlement. Similarly, the hypereutectoid grade showed no significant differences in toughness. The evaluation of the investigations concluded that the increased content of tramp elements in scrap had a marginal impact on the toughness as well as on the embrittlement and temper embrittlement of pearlitic steels. The significant reduction in toughness observed in the experimental alloy of the hypoeutectoid steel grade could be attributed to the increased content of manganese sulfides.