In the USA, how free are we? How "lead-free", tha

[Kevin]

Came across this gem on a green building email discussion:

"The 1996 amendments to the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) require that pipe, fittings, and fixtures introduced into commerce after August 6, 1998, be lead-free. For pipe, fittings, and devices, this requires that the products not contain more than 8.0% lead.

"In addition, for devices that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion (faucets, drinking fountains, etc.), these SDWA amendments also require that the product comply with the lead leaching requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 61, Section 9. Under this standard, certified products are limited to 11 parts per billion (ppb) of lead in water from endpoint devices."

http://www.nsf.org/business/mechanical_plumbing/index.asp?program=MechanicalPluSysCom

And note that the EPA "action level" for lead in drinking water is only a shade higher than the allowable lead-leaching level for individual drinking water plumbing plumbing system components:

http://epa.gov/safewater/mcl.html#inorganic
(scroll down the table to "Lead")