[Greenbuilding] permissible lead in "lead-free" faucets

[Reuben Deumling]

This is good information, Chris, thanks.
What I find particularly interesting--and troubling--is the 11ppb leaching
limit you've discovered. EPA's action level is 15ppb. No wonder California
will be ratcheting down the permissible lead levels in the near future.

As for drinking from the hot water faucet, I've assumed it was the
dissolving anode rod we weren't meant to drink.

Reuben Deumling

On 11/13/06, Chris Green <pojeros at telus.net> wrote:
>
> The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) has a page about lead
> in faucets and fixtures.
> http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/Lead_Faucets.htm
>
> > *Are there any faucets with no lead at all?*
> > Some faucet manufactures produce plastic faucets that have virtually
> > zero lead. Other manufactures are substituting other metals for the
> > lead in the brass, inserting copper tubes inside the brass faucets, or
> > applying special coatings on the inside of the faucets in order to
> > minimize or eliminate lead leaching.
> FWIW, lead is added to brass in order to make the machining processes
> easier.
>
> The NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) page about faucets:
>
> http://www.nsf.org/business/mechanical_plumbing/index.asp?program=MechanicalPluSysCom
> This page has links to two search engines through which you can find out
> if your fixtures or plastic piping ( such as PEX ) are NSF certified.
> >
> >
> >     Faucets
> >
> > The 1996 amendments to the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) require
> > that pipe, fittings, and fixtures introduced into commerce after
> > August 6, 1998, be lead-free. For pipe, fittings, and devices, this
> > requires that the products not contain more than 8.0% lead.
> >
> > In addition, for devices that are intended by the manufacturer to
> > dispense water for human ingestion (faucets, drinking fountains,
> > etc.), these SDWA amendments also require that the product comply with
> > the lead leaching requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 61, Section 9.
> > Under this standard, certified products are limited to 11 parts per
> > billion (ppb) of lead in water from endpoint devices.
> >
> > Endpoint devices subject to the lead leaching requirements of NSF/ANSI
> > Standard 61 include faucets, hot and cold water dispensers, drinking
> > fountains, drinking fountain bubblers, water coolers, glass fillers,
> > residential refrigerator ice-makers, supply stops, and endpoint
> > control valves.
> >
> > To receive NSF Certification, faucets must meet three basic
> requirements:
> >
> >    1. Review of materials and formulations
> >    2. Inspection of the manufacturing facility
> >    3. Testing of finished products selected at random during the
> >       facility audit
> >
> > Only after successful testing and inspection can the NSF Mark be used
> > on the product packaging and product literature. Continued
> > certification involves annual inspections of the production facility
> > and repeat product evaluations to assure conformance to NSF/ANSI
> > Standard 61.
> >
> > Search the Drinking Water System Component Listings
> > <http://www.nsf.org/Certified/PwsComponents/> to determine which
> > faucet products are currently certified.
> >
> > Search the Plumbing and Related Products Listings
> > <http://www.nsf.org/Certified/Plumbing/> to determine which plastic
> > plumbing products are currently certified.
> >
> Compliance to NSF/ANSI Standard 61.is voluntary, and those products
> which are certified will have NSF 61/9 stamped on the box they come in,
> or elsewhere. From the MWRA page:
> > The national standard for certifying plumbing fixtures "lead free"
> > status is determined by the National Sanitary Foundation (NSF) - the
> > standard is International Standard 61-Section 9. New faucets meeting
> > the NSF 61 standard will have NSF 61/9 stamped on the new faucet's
> > cardboard box.
> Most sources advocate running the water for a while to flush out any
> lead that has leached into the water. Also, they recommend using only a
> cold water source for drinking and cooking water. Presumably this means
> hot water will leach more lead out.
>
> Chris Green.
>
>
>
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