Lead-free is the development requirement of plumbing hardware

Recently, faucets were detected as a result of the "lead exceeded" incident and caused widespread concern. According to a sample test of 13 faucets conducted by Shanghai TV Station, the lead content of the soaked water in the faucets of the 9 brands exceeds the national standard. Among them, some of the faucet lead exceeded the standard 18 times; a brand of lead precipitation of 173 micrograms / liter, exceeding the standard as much as 34 times, the most serious.

Although the tap is small, it is related to the safety of family drinking water and the health of the people. According to investigations, at present, the main substrate for taps in the domestic market is copper or alloy materials. Some unscrupulous merchants use low-grade lead brass as raw materials to reduce costs. In the surface treatment processes such as electroplating, a large amount of lead is used. , chromium and other heavy metal elements, and omitting a lead-washing process before leaving the factory, leading to excessive lead, long-term consumption of lead-containing water will cause damage to our drinking water safety and health.

Lead poisoning is comparable to "melamine"

Recently, the results of the quality supervision and spot checks released by the Shanghai Bureau of Quality Supervision showed that of the 68 batches of faucet products that were spotted, there were 21 batches that were unqualified, among which 6 batches had excessive lead content. On July 24th, the Beijing Consumers Association also announced the results of comparative tests on 50 kinds of ceramic sealing faucets, and 34% of the samples failed to meet the standard. In the standard test of soaking water, only two faucet samples were completely lead-free. .

The exposure of quality inspections from various parts of the country shows that a large number of inferior taps all over the country have hidden dangers that lead to excessive lead. It is understood that lead is a heavy metal element that harms the human nervous system, immunity, and other physiological systems. The long-term use of these inferior taps is likely to lead to stones, and even lead poisoning, especially for the health of pregnant women and children. Some experts pointed out that the health hazards of inferior taps are no less than melamine.

Compared to adults, lead in taps is more harmful to children. Li Zengqi, vice president of the Lead Element Research Institute of China's Lead Element Research Institute, pointed out in a special report organized by the Guangzhou Municipal Education Commission that the number one child health problem in China is lead poisoning. According to the survey, 30% to 40% of urban children in China have excessive levels of blood lead and are in a state of lead poisoning. Incredibly, the prevalence of lead poisoning among children in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang are all above 60%, and the blood lead levels of some industrially contaminated children exceed 100%.

The bad lead brass lead the trouble According to the National Building Materials Hardware Plumbing Product Quality Supervision, Inspection and Test Center experts, "lead and air contact, the surface of the oxide film is very easy to fall off, immersed in water, especially in the water nozzle stranded overnight" "Water" has a higher lead metal content. In this regard, experts suggest that if the faucet is not used for several hours, flush it with water for 1 to 2 minutes before reusing it. The water that comes out is almost unleaded.

In the survey of reporters, insiders in the industry revealed that many of the faucets that claim to be full of copper are mostly cast copper. To put it plainly is to say lead brass. The yellow copper that is recovered will be remelted, lead and zinc added, and then "Pure Copper" is listed on the market. He told reporters that a normal copper faucet will not be less than 100 yuan. It is inevitable that lead faucets will be used for tens of yuan. The cheaper the price, the higher the lead content.

It is reported that lead-free is the future development trend of the plumbing hardware industry. At present, products such as lead-free copper, lead-free stainless steel, and lead-free composite materials have been on the market. The explosion of lead exceeded the standard and stainless steel plumbing companies were rumored to be behind the scenes.

How to buy a qualified faucet?

For the chaos of the mixed dragon's faucet market, experts recommend that consumers choose to buy regular building materials supermarkets to purchase well-known brand products. They also need to pay attention to sales personnel to request product testing reports, brand identification, and after-sales service cards. The most direct method is to select products with regular manufacturers and authoritative certifications. For example, the NSF of the United States and the Canadian CSA (Canadian Standards Association) certification are among the most authoritative international certifications.

In addition, it is also possible to easily determine the quality of a faucet by looking, squeezing, and testing.

Look at the quality of the faucet plating in a well-lit environment. The electroplating is bright as a mirror, no burr, no scratches, and the edges are clear and smooth. If you press the surface with your hand, the traces will soon disappear.

You can feel the weight of the faucet in your hand. The good faucet feels heavy and full of texture. Unscrupulous merchants will increase the wall thickness or add metal to get through, and can refer to the product test report to judge.

The test is to test the tap's switch feeling and water status. The valve core is the key to the faucet, you can gently try to turn the handle, if you feel light, no sense of blockage shows that the valve core hardness, wear resistance are better. A good tap can make the air and water fully mixed, the water feels soft and the noise is small.

The new national standard will strictly control the lead content At present, China's water mouth (faucet) products to implement the product standards are mainly mandatory national standard "ceramic seal seal" (GB18145-2003). The standard provides for the appearance quality and service performance of the water faucet. However, there is no provision for the limit of harmful substances such as lead. In addition, there is no requirement for lead limits in the directly related mandatory label “General Technical Condition of Water Faucet” (QB 1334-2004).

In addition, the recommended national standard “Safety Evaluation Standards for Drinking Water Distribution Equipment and Protective Materials for Drinking Water” (GB/T17219-1998), which is indirectly related to the water spout, requires a lead limit of 0.005 mg/L (milligrams per liter). However, the standard is mainly applicable to substances and products that are in direct contact with drinking water and drinking water treatment agents. In 2007, China promulgated and implemented the recommendation for building materials, "Water nozzle lead precipitation limit" (JC/T 1043-2007), the lead concentration of the standard is not higher than 0.011mg/L.

It is reported that the standards for the lead content of taps in the world generally adopt mandatory limit indicators. In contrast, the current standards in China are recommended standards and are currently not well implemented. According to experts from the National Building Sanitary Ceramics Standardization Technical Committee, the domestic government has completed the revision of the mandatory national standard "ceramic seal faucet". The submitted manuscript has been submitted and is expected to be introduced in the near future. The new national standard will impose limits on lead, chromium, and other hazardous substances. The indicator is consistent with US standards and is not higher than 5 micrograms per liter.