Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Chiu Lan-Ting, TVBS – December 26, 2013
From washing hands and faces to drinking water, faucets are part of people's daily lives. However, they also hide potential dangers! Seven major faucet brands on the market were sent to SGS for testing. According to national standards, the lead leaching level in faucets must not exceed 0.001 PPM. Yet, six of the brands were found to exceed the heavy metal "lead" limit, with two even exceeding it by over 200,000 times. However, "faucets" are not included in the inspection items of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This means that even if lead levels are known to exceed standards, there are no legal measures to enforce recalls.
There are countless faucets on the market, but do you know what they’re made of? Tests conducted by SGS revealed that six out of seven major faucet brands leached the heavy metal "lead," including well-known manufacturers, with a failure rate as high as 90%.
The national standard for qualified faucets stipulates that lead leaching must not exceed 0.001 PPM. However, the test results showed that two of the worst-performing brands had lead levels of 264 PPM and 225 PPM—over 200,000 times the limit. The other four brands also exceeded the standard by more than 10,000 times.
Wu Jia-Cheng, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan Normal University, said: "Leaching levels ranging from over 200 PPM to several tens of PPM indicate that the material is of very poor quality. It may be made from recycled metal materials reprocessed into everyday utensils and products."
If the faucet itself contains lead, exposure to acidic substances can cause it to leach and contaminate the water. Wu Jia-Cheng explained: "Tap water already contains residual chlorine, which is an oxidizing substance. Combined with the natural acidity of tap water, this can lead to even higher amounts of lead entering our drinking water."
Drinking, washing your face, and washing your hands—all involve faucets. But if you use a faucet made of copper-lead alloy, after ten years, it will be covered in colorful copper rust and patina. Through such faucets, these contaminants enter your body, accumulating over time and causing bone and nerve damage, as well as affecting children's growth and development. Yet, the composition of faucets on the market is often unclear.
A manufacturer said: "Products made of copper and lead are often labeled as chrome-plated or stainless steel-plated. In the past, salespeople would simply call them stainless steel products, but in reality, they only have a thin layer of stainless steel plating on the surface."
Consumers are left confused by the misleading labeling of faucet materials. However, the BSMI’s list of mandatory inspection items notably excludes "faucets." Lei Li-Fen, Secretary-General of the Consumers' Foundation, said: "The test results are truly shocking. The BSMI should take this seriously. Given how closely faucets are tied to daily life, they should be included in the inspection list. Only with established standards can penalties be imposed on manufacturers, creating a deterrent effect."
How should consumers choose a faucet? With unclear labeling, most people trust big brands and assume higher prices mean better quality. But is this really reliable? A manufacturer said: "Copper products can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand NT dollars, but expensive ones can cost tens of thousands or even over 100,000 NT dollars. Price alone isn’t a reliable indicator."If it can't be measured by price and can't be seen with the naked eye, who can safeguard consumers' health? Consumer Foundation Secretary-General Lei Lifen: "Under the current Commodity Inspection Act, if a product that should be inspected causes life-threatening harm, administrative penalties can range from 750,000 to 7.5 million NT dollars."
In other words, the public has to wait until they are critically ill before unscrupulous businesses face penalties. The Consumer Foundation urges the government to step up legislative efforts and not let lead-containing faucets become the biggest invisible threat to public health.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ % E7……0% 88% E6% A0% BC- 140600076. html
Unregulated? 90% of Faucets Fail Lead Safety Standards
From washing hands and faces to drinking water, faucets are part of people's daily lives. However, they also hide potential dangers! Seven major faucet brands on the market were sent to SGS for testing. According to national standards, the lead leaching level in faucets must not exceed 0.001 PPM. Yet, six of the brands were found to exceed the heavy metal "lead" limit, with two even exceeding it by over 200,000 times. However, "faucets" are not included in the inspection items of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This means that even if lead levels are known to exceed standards, there are no legal measures to enforce recalls.
There are countless faucets on the market, but do you know what they’re made of? Tests conducted by SGS revealed that six out of seven major faucet brands leached the heavy metal "lead," including well-known manufacturers, with a failure rate as high as 90%.
The national standard for qualified faucets stipulates that lead leaching must not exceed 0.001 PPM. However, the test results showed that two of the worst-performing brands had lead levels of 264 PPM and 225 PPM—over 200,000 times the limit. The other four brands also exceeded the standard by more than 10,000 times.
Wu Jia-Cheng, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan Normal University, said: "Leaching levels ranging from over 200 PPM to several tens of PPM indicate that the material is of very poor quality. It may be made from recycled metal materials reprocessed into everyday utensils and products."
If the faucet itself contains lead, exposure to acidic substances can cause it to leach and contaminate the water. Wu Jia-Cheng explained: "Tap water already contains residual chlorine, which is an oxidizing substance. Combined with the natural acidity of tap water, this can lead to even higher amounts of lead entering our drinking water."
Drinking, washing your face, and washing your hands—all involve faucets. But if you use a faucet made of copper-lead alloy, after ten years, it will be covered in colorful copper rust and patina. Through such faucets, these contaminants enter your body, accumulating over time and causing bone and nerve damage, as well as affecting children's growth and development. Yet, the composition of faucets on the market is often unclear.
A manufacturer said: "Products made of copper and lead are often labeled as chrome-plated or stainless steel-plated. In the past, salespeople would simply call them stainless steel products, but in reality, they only have a thin layer of stainless steel plating on the surface."
Consumers are left confused by the misleading labeling of faucet materials. However, the BSMI’s list of mandatory inspection items notably excludes "faucets." Lei Li-Fen, Secretary-General of the Consumers' Foundation, said: "The test results are truly shocking. The BSMI should take this seriously. Given how closely faucets are tied to daily life, they should be included in the inspection list. Only with established standards can penalties be imposed on manufacturers, creating a deterrent effect."
How should consumers choose a faucet? With unclear labeling, most people trust big brands and assume higher prices mean better quality. But is this really reliable? A manufacturer said: "Copper products can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand NT dollars, but expensive ones can cost tens of thousands or even over 100,000 NT dollars. Price alone isn’t a reliable indicator."If it can't be measured by price and can't be seen with the naked eye, who can safeguard consumers' health? Consumer Foundation Secretary-General Lei Lifen: "Under the current Commodity Inspection Act, if a product that should be inspected causes life-threatening harm, administrative penalties can range from 750,000 to 7.5 million NT dollars."
In other words, the public has to wait until they are critically ill before unscrupulous businesses face penalties. The Consumer Foundation urges the government to step up legislative efforts and not let lead-containing faucets become the biggest invisible threat to public health.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ % E7……0% 88% E6% A0% BC- 140600076. html