A California law further limiting the amount of lead in pipes and other plumbing products carrying water for human consumption is causing much concern in the United States plumbing manufacturing industry and could ultimately affect the global industry.

Assembly Bill 1953 (AB1953), which was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on 30 September 2006, requires a reduction in the lead content of such products, including faucets, from 8% to 0.25% by the start of 2010.

It is claimed that there are no faucets on the market meeting these 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. There are also concerns that the new law will mean inferior products, increased costs and prices.

Plumbing Manufacturers Institute executive director Barbara Higgens says faucet manufacturers, with a coalition of 17 diverse organizations, are dismayed at the law.

“In effect, the bill will make present-day faucets illegal in the state of California and create product shortages leading to building stoppages and job losses,” she says.

“There is no need for this law, which ignores proven performance-based health-effect Standards, and instead prescribes the material content of plumbing products such as faucets with no regard to functionality, quality, durability or, for that matter, availability.

While some specialised materials are ideal for use in simple components (water meters and ironically those products now exempted by the law), these alloys are not robust enough for use in complicated mechanical devices such as faucets.

“Materials used in faucets today are highly regulated nationally through rigorous, ongoing performance testing under NSF 61, which evaluates the quality of the water coming out of the faucet and subsequently into consumers. As there is no evidence of any issues in California related to elevated lead levels in the water, it became evident early on that the bill was politically motivated and used as a diversionary tactic by the California water utility that authored the bill. Products under the utility’s purview – which contain the highest lead content of any components in the delivery system and are the least regulated – are exempted from the law.”

Higgens believes the law is flawed and characterised by several myths, including that faucets are the main contributors of lead in drinking water.

“In fact, the opposite is true. Over the past decade, lead levels have been reduced to nearly immeasurable amounts due to advances in materials and manufacturing processes. Aging infrastructure, including pipe and plumbing system components, are the main contributors of trace amounts of lead in the water supply.

“Another myth is that bismuth is a viable alternative alloy. In reality, bismuth-containing brasses can be manufactured only as castings. They cannot be forged and cannot be produced as rod and bar products for machined components. Bismuth alloys are limited in use and application due to limitations in manufacturing, durability, strength and ability to apply surface finishes.”

Higgens says bismuth and selenium are not acceptable for all applications in the manufacture of faucets. The problem is not just in relation to availability – durability is a critical ongoing issue.

“Faucets are complex mechanical devices comprised of many components and materials.