Brass taps and Cancer?

I have some old brass taps that I bought with some nice towers and reconditioned the taps with all new seals. These are solid brass taps and have a nice patina to them.

I was talking to someone about them and they claimed I should replace them with stainless because they can cause cancer. Right? WTF?

I did my Google homework and the only thing I could find on brass and like everything in California it can cause cancer so not really worried about that source.

The 2nd article I found is some nickel plated brass could be a concern it the finish flakes off and leaches cadmium in the beer. They were never nickel plated so not worried again.

Last source is like all brass it has some led in it. OK I have brass fitting in my plumbing, who cares.


So to make me feel better anyone ever have a concern about using brass?

Chrome plated brass taps are in bars everywhere. I would not worry about it.

Exactly what I was thinking. Just like non-plated brass taps are in bars everywhere too.

Something's gotta kill ya. Might as well be brass beer taps. Meh.

Everything causes cancer these days. I read an article a few days ago about women getting breast cancer from putting their cell phones in their bras. If that's true, then where's the outbreak of brain tumors from talking on a cell phone, and hand cancer from texting? When someone tells me something causes cancer I always ask to see the medical study. Usually there isn't one.

I think they only cause cancer in California, so you're good.

LLBeanJ said:

I think they only cause cancer in California, so you're good.

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exactly. Kalifornia plumbing warnings strike fear again.
Someone read a warning in a home depot faucet box and it snowballed.

The only thing I've read about brass is lead leeching. The evidence is strong enough, for me, that I'm converting my MLT & HLT ball valves and fittings to SS.

I have a kid, and a pregnant wife. She can't drink now, but when she's breast feeding our newest one, I'd prefer to limit any possible lead exposure...that I can control.

Old brass used to have a significant percentage of lead in it that absolutely does leach into drinking water (not just the solder, the brass itself).

Small amounts of lead aren't actually that bad for adults though. Between the vary low surface area exposed and low contact time, I wouldn't be too worried. If you were using old brass for all of your drinking water, baths, cooking etc that would be different.

Odds are you have multiple brass faucets in your home. The kitchen sink faucet, bathroom faucets, etc. I am a plumber in Ohio and starting in 2014, the California warning will be nationwide and everything manufactured will have to be lead free. It is nothing to worry about. If you have had a drink from the tap of any faucet, it has more than likely went through brass.

Your friend is well meaning. Lead is more closely associated with neurological damage. In the amounts it might leech, you don't have to worry. There are plenty of other carcinogens that will get you first.

By the way, BEER is a carcinogen. Alcohol consumption and cancers of the digestive tract have a causal relationship.

We (as adults) all die sometime...good on you for taking care of the wife and kids and protecting them from this stuff....but a brass faucet isn't going to ruin things.

billl said:

...Small amounts of lead aren't actually that bad for adults though....

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???

Lead affects adults way less than infants and children, in whom it can cause developmental delays and learning disabilities that cannot be reversed.

Brass by definition is an alloy of copper and zinc. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Lead could have been added, intentionally or not, and nobody really knows whether an alloy contains lead or not. So all brass is suspect to contain lead.

I guess it was really difficult to keep those metals separated even after the debilitating effects of lead were proven, and we know the difficulties in suppressing greed.

I don't know of any conclusive studies of alloyed metals leeching into cool beer from brass beer taps. If any, it must be quite minimal. Just don't let kids drink it

Being an Engineer the only thing I can think of is beer is acidic and more likely to pull lead from the brass than water being neutral. Found a site that talks about using vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to remove lead from the surface of the brass for people who are paranoid. So on that theory only new taps should leach a trace amount of lead that isn't even enough to hurt a newborn unicorn.

So what have we learned?

Kalifornia causes cancer and we are all going to eventually die.

For your consideration:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/vt-ssb111110.php

http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/index.cfm

http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/publications/L-5452.pdf

Well that just sounds depressing and makes me want to get my water checked.