LISLE, ILL. — The Water Quality Association announced a new certification program for companies facing low-lead laws that went into effect January 1 in California.
Beginning in 2010, California state law prohibits the introduction into commerce of any product intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption that is not “lead free,” as defined in the California Health and Safety Code Section 116875 revisions as per Assembly Bill AB1953. The maximum allowable lead content is 0.2% lead in solder and flux, and 0.25% lead in products made to convey or dispense drinking water, determined by a weighted average of wetted surface areas.
All pipe or plumbing fixtures, solder or flux must be certified by an independent American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited third-party certification body.
Other products covered by the California regulation may be required to obtain certification through an ANSI-accredited certification body as well.
The WQA is offering certification for low-lead compliance to California regulations. Vermont has passed similar rules, which are covered by the new WQA certification program. Under the process WQA will perform a desktop review of lead content.
WQA's Laboratory will perform XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) scanning on materials that contain lead in their formulation and some materials that are disclosed not to contain lead in their formulation to confirm the exact lead content. Digestion will be performed if the results from the XRF scan are higher than the disclosed percentage lead content.
Additional information is available from the WQA Gold Seal sales staff at 630/505-0160.