Can a pure lead device pass NSF/ANSI Standard 61?
No. This misconception started when an article reported that a small lead device was tested to the NSF/ANSI Standard 61 test protocol and it passed for lead. A close reading of the article shows that the lead device was only tested with the pH 5 test water. It was not tested with the pH 10 test water, which is required by the standard. The same article claims that other devices were tested with both the pH 5 and pH 10 test waters and showed that the pH 10 test water was 71 times more aggressive for lead leaching than the pH 5 test water. If the factor of 71 was applied to the pH 5 test results for the small lead device, it would have clearly failed to meet the standard. In fact, many brass products containing only small amounts of lead have difficulty meeting the testing requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 61.
