Ann Arbor, Mich. - NSF Intl., a not-for-profit, public health and safety organization, announced that Kohler, Moen and Price Pfister have become the first faucet companies to have certain plumbing products comply with the new low lead requirements. Certification allows manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with new state laws, established to help protect the public from exposure to lead, well ahead of the Jan. 1, 2010, deadline.
“By obtaining Annex G certification, Kohler, Moen and Price Pfister are emphasizing their commitment to quality and public health protection,” said Nasrin Kashefi, general manager of NSF Plumbing Programs. “Certification is important because it expands the choices available to consumers when selecting products for their homes. We congratulate these leading manufacturers for being proactive in their response to these new requirements.”
The new section of NSF/ANSI Standard 61, Annex G, weighted average lead content evaluation procedure to a 0.25% lead requirement. This includes the new legislation in California and Vermont that mandates a maximum weighted average lead content requirement of less than or equal to 0.25%. Other states are also considering low lead content legislation. The new lead requirements apply to manufacturers of faucets, valves, water fittings and other products that come in contact with drinking water. Compliance with NSF/ANSI Standard 61, the American National Standard for Drinking Water Products, is also required.
NSF/ANSI Standard 61: Drinking Water System Components, Health Effects was updated Dec. 2008, to incorporate requirements for use when the less than or equal to 0.25% lead content requirement must be met, in addition to current chemical extraction requirements of the standard. Compliance is determined by a weighted average calculation involving the maximum percent lead content of material specifications and wetted surface areas.
To receive certification, Kohler, Moen and Price Pfister met the new lead content requirement of less than or equal to 0.25% and the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 61, Annex G. All three companies have been certified by NSF to Standard 61 for many years, and they now comply with the new low lead requirements well ahead of the deadline.
“It is one of our company's guiding principles to always be on the leading edge of design and technology,” said Stu Yang, director of global faucet engineering at Kohler. “In this case, our goal was to provide distributors ample time to manage inventory via an orderly transition. As soon as the California bill was passed, Kohler proactively informed distributors of the impact of the new legislation. And we also wanted to assure our distributors and end customers that Kohler is fully compliant and prepared for the new low-lead legislation with a full product offering.”
To ensure ongoing compliance with the new lead requirements, NSF will conduct annual, unannounced inspections of the manufacturing facilities for certified products and retest products on a regular basis.
Additional information is available at: www.nsf.org.