What are PFAS? Where does it come from?

Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), are two of the most widely used and studied chemicals in the PFAS group. One common characteristic of concern of PFAS is that many break down very slowly and can build up in people, animals, and the environment over time. Due to widespread production and use, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveys show that most people in the United States have been exposed to some PFAS.*

Source: *epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas

Lead

Lead often enters water when plumbing materials corrode. It’s undetectable by taste, sight or smell. In children, lead exposure has been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells.

Adults exposed to lead can suffer from cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems in both men and women.

Source: EPA.gov

Cysts

Two types of common types of cysts are Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium. They enter drinking water from human and animal waste, and can lead to gastrointestinal illness such as dysentery, vomiting and cramps. They are not life threatening if treated.  

Source: EPA.gov

Chlorine

Water comes from many sources, including lakes and wells. It can be contaminated at the source. It can also be contaminated with germs as it travels through miles of piping. To prevent contamination, water companies add a disinfectant — usually either chlorine or chloramine — that kills disease-causing germs such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and norovirus. Though chlorine is used as a disinfectant, it can leave an undesirable taste and smell. 

Source: CDC.gov  

Sediment and Particulate

Sediments are naturally occurring particles that develop as earth materials. They break down through weathering and erosion. Sediment comes from sand, rocks and minerals, or may consist of organic particles of plants and microbes. They can take on a cloudy and unappealing look in water.

Source: Water Systems Council

What are microplastics? Where are they found?

Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters in size (smaller than a pencil-top eraser), that are weathered or broken from larger pieces of plastic or fractured from sunlight and microbes. They can look like spherical beads and thread-like fibers and are irregularly shaped and flexible like food wrappers. Microplastics are often found in drinking water as “solid polymeric materials to which chemical additives or other substances may have been added.” Due to the environmental pollution caused by plastic, microplastics end up everywhere — in waterways, the seafood we eat, milk, chicken, and more.1

How to minimize microplastic consumption?

Although it’s almost impossible to avoid microplastics because they’re in the air that we breathe, there are ways to minimize exposure. Instead of plastic shopping bags and single-use plastic bottles, opt for tote bags and reusable water bottles. Fill reusable bottles with filtered water  — Elkay filters are tested and certified to NSF/ANSI 42 and 53 to reduce microplastics. Heat food in glass containers instead of plastic ones, which can release millions of microplastic particle in your food.

How do microplastics affect me?

A study by the University of Newcastle, Australia suggests the average person could be ingesting enough plastic equivalent to a whole credit card — that’s about five grams.2 This is the result of consuming common food and beverage, meaning, our regular meals may contain this amount of plastic.

1 - Beittel, Chloe. “The Macros Issues of Microplastics,” ewg.org. ewg.org/news-insights/news/2023/08/macro-issues-microplastics

2 – de Wit, Wijnand; Bigaud, Nathan. “No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion From Nature to People.” 2019. WWF. https://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/plastic_ingestion_web_spreads.pdf

What is lead? Where does it come from?

For centuries, lead has been widely used in plumbing systems that transport water. Despite changes in plumbing codes making it illegal to use lead pipes or solder, lead is still found in older pipes, solder and brass fittings in existing plumbing systems. Lead is toxic and continuous exposure can cause a variety of health problems, especially in infants and children. Please visit epa.gov/lead to learn more.

Do your products reduce lead?

Select WaterSentry® filtration systems reduce lead to meet the requirements necessary to achieve our NSF/ANSI 53 certification, making the water cleaner and healthier.

Water delivery product examples include:

• Elkay Filtered Bottle Filling Stations.
• Elkay Filtered Water Coolers.

Our filters are also sold separately and can be retrofitted onto any existing Elkay or non-Elkay branded water cooler, fountain or bottle filling station with Elkay’s vandal-resistant retrofit filtration kit. Kits are available with and without a filter status monitor and alert.

Do your products contain lead?

No. Our drinking water products have been lead free for more than two decades. They are certified to NSF/ANSI 372 as lead free by the Water Quality Association.

How does Elkay test its filters?

Elkay tests and certifies our filters to NSF/ANSI Standard 53."NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for Drinking Water Treatment Units is the nationally recognized standard for evaluating and certifying drinking water treatment systems for the reduction of contaminants from drinking water. Water filters are tested and certified to NSF/ANSI 53 to ensure they reduce contaminants, including lead, per the requirements of the standard" (Certified Product Listing, NSF).