Leonard J. Brown Plumbing Inc.
888.489.5840

Question: I read where the state of California is trying to ban brass faucets because they leak into the water that comes out of them. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Reply: Pardon me for sounding less than alarmist, but most reasonable people think the risk of lead poisoning from household faucets ranks right up there with getting conked on the head by a meteorite.

From a medical standpoint there is no doubt that lead is not a good thing to ingest. However, the amount of lead leached from brass faucets is measured in micrograms, or millionths of a gram. California has a super-stringent state regulation that limits lead exposure to 0.5 micrograms per day. This is based on the assumption that the average person consumes about two liters (approximately two full glasses) of water each day. California's tolerance amounts to a quarter of a microgram per glass, or one part in every four million. This is like a drop in a swimming pool.

The California lawsuit was based on laboratory experiments that found faucets reaching four to a couple of hundred times in excess of what's allowed by the state. That sounds scary, but let's pause to contemplate how tiny the amounts are that we're dealing with.

Based on California's standard, it would take four million glasses of water to accumulate a single gram of lead from drinking water. The average person would require two million days, or almost 5,500 years, to consume that much - by which time you might be rather grateful to keel over! Yet, it's questionable whether a gram of lead would do much harm. We're talking about an amount of lead that wouldn't even cover the tip of your nose.

Some lab experiments have come up with much higher levels than California's 0.5 micrograms standard, but they are still in the sub-microscopic realm. Besides, lab experiments tend to be based on a worst case scenario by measuring contaminants in the first draw from a faucet that has been shut off for many hours and contains stagnant water. Even the environmental groups trying to ban brass faucets acknowledge that letting the water run for awhile removes almost all lead that may have built up.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. A small amount of lead, less than 10%, gets mixed in to aid manufacturing. Faucets have been made in this manner for more than 100 years with no apparent ill effects. It is hard to find anyone who has documented a single case of lead poisoning attributed to a household water supply.

To alleviate concern, let the water run for awhile after opening the tap before using any for drinking or cooking. Beyond that lies the twilight zone of sheer paranoia.