The American National Standards Institute/NSF
Standard 61, Section 8, was intended to protect consumers
from inline brass plumbing products that could
release excessive concentrations of lead to drinking
water. Both the public and the drinking water community
assumed that the standard was effective in safeguarding
public health.
The authors conducted experiments to examine the
practical rigor of the test and found that the standard
was lacking. Factors such as variability in the chemistry
of the test water and the duration of the test
affected the aggressivity of the test waters. Results
also showed that small devices made of pure lead
could easily pass the lead leaching protocol. Contrary
to all expectations, purchase of NSF Section 8 certified
devices does not prevent lead leaching into water
supplies.
In addition to detailing the standard's shortcomings,
the authors offer several recommendations for revising
and toughening the standard. These include specifying
the freshness of testing solutions, changing the normalization
formula, and tying the results of a performance
test to field experience. The authors also advocate for a
dramatic reduction in the allowable lead content of
brass products unless the testing protocol can be
brought more in line with known drinking water treatment
chemistry and field experiences with lead sampling
and exposure analysis. Includes 49 references, table, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 97 - No. 8 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 300 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 13 |
| Published : | 08/01/2005 |
