February 26, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
McLean, VA— Manufacturers of certain brass applications, including pipe fittings, valves, meters and pumps, may now be exempt from recurring NSF 61 testing and certification requirements that assess whether products leach unsafe levels of 14 regulated metals, including lead, arsenic and chromium. Brass rod is the first class of materials to achieve this designation in over 20 years after seven alloys were added to the ‘Acceptable Materials’ list in the 2024 edition of NSF/ANSI/CAN Standard 61: 'Drinking water system components – Health effects’.
The same alloys were previously granted a limited ‘Acceptable Materials’ designation for lead-leaching only after demonstrating compliance with significantly tighter lead leaching criteria enacted in 2024. The expanded designation was earned through extensive testing and approved by the NSF Joint Committee on Drinking Water Additives and the NSF Public Health Council, an independent advisory group of professional and regulatory officials.
“Adding these alloys to the NSF 61 Acceptable Materials list further advances CDA’s mission to bring the value of copper and copper alloys to society,” said Adam Estelle, President of Copper Development Association (CDA). “It demonstrates our members’ commitment to bring competitive lead-free brass solutions to market while supporting the customer base in complying with the latest drinking water quality requirements.”
“Brass is a common material for many drinking water system components,” said Kyle Thompson, Technical Director of Plumbing Manufacturers International. “The expanded NSF 61 Annex N-2 listing gives manufacturers more options to specify brass materials that meet and exceed customers’ expectations for quality, sustainability, and drinking water safety.”
NSF’s Director of Standards, Jessica Evans, added, “NSF Standards improve public health by ensuring products and materials in contact with drinking water are rigorously evaluated for safety. These brass alloys have met a high bar by satisfying the stringent, material-level leaching requirements outlined in the Standard.”
Brass rod alloys are 100 percent recyclable engineering materials commonly used to manufacture plumbing components, and typically contain close to 100 percent recycled content as demonstrated in a recent third party certification.
The list of approved alloys, applications and design parameters can be found in Table N-2.3 in Normative Annex 2 of NSF/ANSI/CAN 61-2024.
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Copper Development Association Inc. (CDA) is a U.S.-based, not-for-profit association of the global copper industry, bringing together the North American copper and copper alloy semis fabricators and global copper mining and production industries. CDA is committed to bringing the value of copper to society by promoting the proper use of copper materials in sustainable, efficient applications for business, industry and the home.
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