- The ARC - California Edition -

Supreme Court Rules: No Lead in Water Faucets

The California Supreme Court has ruled against the drinking water faucet makers in their fight to continue selling their lead-based products in this state. The Attorney General had taken 16 manufacturers and distributors to court in order to enforce the 1986 initiative-based Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act.

The mineral LEAD, known to cause reproductive harm, neurological damage, learning disabilities and birth defects, was formally placed on the Proposition 65 reproductive toxin list by the state advisory committee during the late 1980’s and thereby made it illegal for anyone to knowningly discharge LEAD into a source of drinking water.

The lawsuit was originally filed in December 1992 and claimed that the products violate California’s standard of lead in water and should be barred from being sold in the state. State law allows 0.5 parts per billion of lead in drinking water. The federal standard is 30 times more lenient, and allows for 15 parts per billion of lead.

In pursuing this legal action, the Attorney General had also been negotiating with the defendants about phasing-out the use of LEAD in making water faucets. This agreement had been reached prior to the court announcing its decision. However, the Supreme Court decided to rule anyway because of the legal importance of the issues.

The court focused on the meaning of the phrase source of drinking water and decided: "In light of both the act’s language and its purpose, the Attorney General is correct in construing it to prohibit the discharge of toxic chemicals into faucet water."