Question from Ellie

Are the new BRONZE drinking and hot water faucets safe as far as toxicity from lead is concerned? I’m remodeling my kitchen and want to purchase safe faucets.

Debra’s Answer

Choosing a lead-free faucet is a little more complex than choosing bronze over brass. There’s a whole article that explains about lead in faucets very simply:

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission: Identifying & Purchasing Lead-Free Faucets.

A 1986 amendment to The Safe Drinking Water Act banned the use of lead solder in plumbing and called for “lead free” plumbing fixtures. A “lead-free” fixture was legally defined as one that had 8% or less lead in it (hardly “free” of lead).

NSF: Faucets says that federal law now requires faucets to meet the lead leaching requirements outlined in their NSF/ANSI Standard 61. This standard establishes guidelines for determining whether the faucet (or other product being tested) adds contaminants into the water as it passes through. “Under Section 9 of this standard, faucets and other endpoint devices are tested to ensure they do not leach more than 5 ppb of lead into drinking water.” So if you get an NSF certified faucet, it may still leach 5 ppb of lead into the water that comes out of it. While this is much less lead than faucets sold prior to 1998,it is still not zero lead. You can view their list of faucets that meet this standard at: NSF Certified Faucets.

The bottom line is: A faucet labeled “lead-free” may still leach lead into your water.

Apparently there are some faucet manufacturers which now produce plastic faucets that have virtually zero lead. Other manufacturers 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. However, I haven’t been able to locate a list of these faucets. I did find one brand–Zeromix–that says their faucets are “entirely lead-free…Moreover the brass that we use contains no nickel and the faucets are made in such a way that no nickel comes in contact with your drinking water.”

As for any product, read the label. Check the package for any indication that the plumbing fixtures might be have zero- or ultra low-lead levels. New faucets meeting the NSF 61 standard will have NSF 61/9 stamped on cardboard box.

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