PISCATAWAY, N.J.—American Standard announced it has begun production of solid-brass faucets that comply with new lead-free regulations. Early next year, all American Standard residential lavatory and kitchen faucets will contain less than one quarter of one percent (0.25%) total lead content by weighted average, the new lead-free standard required by California and Vermont by 2010.
“American Standard faucets have long used significantly less lead than other brands,” explained Dave Meisner, vice president and general manager of American Standard. “Through an innovative new brass alloy formulation that utilizes bismuth, the new faucets will have less lead while maintaining our hallmark quality, performance, and unmatched style.”
Bismuth, used for many years in pharmaceuticals, pigments and cosmetics, has similar properties to lead including the ease of precise machining and the ability to form a water-tight seal. American Standard will use bismuth as a substitute for lead in order to meet California’s AB1953 lead-free standard.
Historic Integrity Preserved
According to Meisner, American Standard product engineers chose to modify the metal composition of its brass alloy, rather than turn to plastic components, to preserve the historic integrity and quality of its faucets.
“For more than a century, homeowners have chosen American Standard faucets for a style that works better,” said Meisner, who credits the company’s commitment to brass casting technology, a more expensive, but superior manufacturing process. “Where other manufacturers substitute plastic for metal, American Standard has always relied on the durability and dependable operation that metal provides the faucet structure.”
He noted four key advantages that brass waterways offer over plastic in faucet construction:
Brass is more durable than plastic.
Unlike plastic, brass waterways are significantly less sensitive to high temperatures or temperature fluctuations, which can cause the faucet to fail and result in water damage.
Brass waterways are less vulnerable to cracking in the event that pipes become frozen, and thereby offer a more reliable product.
Brass is more resistant than plastic to chemicals in drinking water.
The manufacturer began shifting to the new metal formulation in late 2008, and anticipates that the lead-free faucets would be available nationwide early in the second quarter of 2009.
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