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- Lead law' update
- Reality check
- On the hunt
- Health check
- Survey results
- Fire goes green
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- Flow reduction
- UK farming misery
- Bugs eating through fat
- 'Super' solution
- Luxury goes green
- O2 overcomes, too
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- Harsh environment
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- Much more to good design
- New lead policy
- India's modern sanitation
- Fire suppression systems
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- Contemplating the future
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California law raises more questions than answers.
In September 2006, a new law that
limits the amount of lead in faucets and
other plumbing components to 0.25%
was passed in California with a deadline for
compliance of 1 January 2010.
The State of California is the 10th largest
economy in the world, so most brands of faucet from around the globe find their way
into this market. The move by California is also
seen as a forerunner to uniform legislation
throughout the United States and perhaps in
other countries.
Various concerns were raised by faucet
manufacturers and other stakeholders about
the practicality of the AB 1953 law, and
these were discussed in the March 2007
issue of WPR.It was claimed that no faucets on the
market met the new requirements, and copper-based alloys such as bismuth and selenium – which may be a replacement
for lead – are unlikely to be available in the
necessary quantities.
Concern was also expressed that the
new law would mean inferior products and
increased costs and prices.
In this article we provide an update on
the latest developments in relation to this
important issue.
Executive director of the Plumbing
Manufacturers Institute (PMI) Barbara Higgens
says the organization still believes that
performance is the best way of evaluating the
quality and safety of faucets. However, now
that AB 1953 has been signed into law, PMI
members are dedicated to complying with it.
“In fact, we have proposed a companion
bill – SB 651 – to strengthen the new law
by clarifying some terms and definitions
and to include a requirement for third party
certification and enforcement,” she says.
“This is to ensure that all manufacturers
comply with the requirements.
“Other States, including Massachusetts and
Vermont, are considering their own iteration of
the lead-reduction bill.
“PMI directors and members are working
on model legislation of our own to encourage
the States to follow a template so there
is uniformity in their laws. We hope this is
introduced in States considering legislation,
and ultimately nationally.
“Although there have been claims that
some European faucets contain lower levels
of lead, none have come to our attention. To
date, we are not aware of any manufacturer
claiming to already meet AB 1953, with the
exception of products made from materials
like stainless steel.
“PMI manufacturing company members
are dedicated to addressing health, safety
and environmental concerns. This group is
always looking for product innovation,
including lowering lead content, and it has
been exploring options long before the new
law in California.
“However, California’s tight compliance
deadline has put additional pressure on our manufacturers to find robust, alternative
alloys quickly, leaving little time for field
testing. We will comply with the law and
work to ensure that all players do the same,
but third party certification and enforcement
are critical.”
NSF International is an independent, nonprofit
organization that certifies products and
writes Standards for food, water and consumer
goods. Its codes and regulatory manager,
Jeremy Brown, says Standard 61: Drinking
Water System Components – Health Effects
has been updated to further protect the public
from exposure to lead.
The Standard has an implementation date
of 1 July 2012, which was established to give
industry enough time to design and produce
products from alternative materials to comply
with the revised NSF Standard and other
physical performance Standards. “At this time there is no clear regulatory
mechanism by which the requirements of
AB 1953 will be enforced and no clear
Standards by which to evaluate or demonstrate
product compliance,” Brown says.
“So there is a possibility that litigation could
become the enforcement.
“The NSF Lead Task Group, in an attempt
to standardize product evaluation, is grappling
with several matters, including how to
determine the lead content of materials, and
how to deal with coatings and liners. “It is also examining marking requirements,
and gaining assurance that the final
requirements are acceptable to the regulatory
agencies with jurisdiction over installations
of products requiring compliance with the
California law.”
Director of special services at the
International Association of Plumbing and
Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), Dave Viola,
says that as the debate continues on how best to deal with enforcement, IAPMO R&T has
implemented a voluntary program that allows
customers the option of having their products
third party certified as compliant with the
California law, or the law in any other State. “An overarching enforcement mechanism
is needed to create a level playing field for
manufacturers and increase confidence that
the law is being complied with,” he says. “At best, the future is uncertain as the
faucet industry continues its search for a
solution that allows products to comply with
the California law.”
According to executive director of the Non-
Ferrous Founders Society (NFFS) Jim Mallory,
work has continued on several fronts to help
US faucet manufacturers and their foundry
suppliers to meet the new California law. “Despite claims to the contrary by the law’s
sponsors, there is no simple solution readily
available,” he says.
“Seven different committees have been
established to look at various questions
and materials. “The one that NFFS and I are specifically
involved with is on bismuth availability and
material costs. Our group has also been trying
to look at what effect switching to bismuth
alloys would have on the available supply of
copper scrap metal.
“Other issues being studied include
castability of various no-lead alloys, cost
versus manufacturing yield, platability issues,
and machinability questions. “Our committee has had quite a difficult
time trying to get any reliable data on the total
current global production of bismuth. There
are very few mines supplying it. One of those
is in China, but the operators will not provide
any information on their mining capacity or
production rates.
“What we have seen in relation to China
is a suggestion that the mines have been
controlling their export quantities to force
bismuth prices up. Moreover, Sidech, a leading
European source for bismuth, has yet to
even acknowledge our committee’s repeated
requests for information and assistance.
“What estimates we have been able to
gather put annual global production between
6,000 and 8,000 tons, although one source
in Canada says supply capacity may be 50%
higher than that. “Our committee has been trying to estimate
how much the US demand for bismuth might
increase if all leaded brass alloys were to be
replaced by bismuth. One estimate is that it
will at least double.
“Even the US Geological Survey admits
that although the cost of bismuth is roughly
10 times that of lead, there may be a concern
about meeting the demand if it were to
become necessary to use bismuth in all
current lead applications.
“We have been working on this project for
nearly 18 months but keep putting off the
writing of a paper in the hope that better data
becomes available. Improved data would allow
us to more accurately forecast whether the
production sources could handle any level of
increased demand.
“The one factor we are confident of at this
point is that the price of bismuth, which has
already gone up 400% under current demand,
would probably skyrocket.”
Mallory says there are still industry
concerns regarding enforcement of the new
law in California, and even proponents of the
regulation are uncertain as to how it will
be implemented.
“The lead content of a faucet cannot be
determined by visual inspection or paperwork
alone. One proposal would put the burden and
the cost of proving compliance on companies
trying to sell products in California.
“There are also questions concerning
the percentage of imported faucets in the
market – it may be as high as 85% of total
faucet sales.
“Exactly how California could test imported
products to ensure their compliance with
the law has yet to be determined. However,
California lawmakers continue to urge domestic
manufacturers not to wait for such questions to
be answered before removing lead from their
products.
“Meanwhile, the clock is ticking – loudly. “Thus far, California is the only State that
has enacted such restrictive content-based
legislation. The industry’s fear is that others
may soon follow, or a similar law may be
enacted by Congress on a national level.”
WPR did try to host a conference in
Shanghai on this important issue and other
plumbing supply matters. Unfortunately, there
was not enough support.
We now hope there won’t be a repeat of
a ‘Mattel toy’ type action in which Chinese
suppliers argued they were not sufficiently
informed of the lead issue in children’s toys – and were exonerated for failing to meet
product safety requirements.
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