COUNTERFEIT WATER FILTERS POSE A PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN

The Problem

Common market counterfeit filters pose a threat to public health and safety. They fail to remove contaminants from America’s drinking water such as lead and cysts and can even add contaminants such as arsenic, ethanol, phenol and octane, a known carcinogen.

Counterfeit water filters are rampant online, disguised as certified filters with fraudulent and misleading labeling, and alluring price tags, impersonating every brand in the industry.

Even experts at U.S. Customs and Border Protection have difficulty identifying counterfeit water filters. Water may look, smell or taste fine, but human senses cannot always detect microbial and organic contaminants

lurking in the water that can seriously harm our health and wellbeing.

The Research The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) conducted research to determine how counterfeits

compare with certified filters from trusted manufacturers. Of the randomly selected and tested counterfeit filters, here are the topline findings:

1. Counterfeit filters failed to remove harmful lead from household water. 2. Counterfeit filters failed to remove live cysts from household water. 3. Some counterfeit filters introduced harmful compounds into household water.

Using the standard that certified filters are tested for consumer safety, three independent labs (NSF International, Water Quality Association (WQA) or IAPMO R&T) performed tests to measure counterfeit filters’ efficacy at removing lead and cysts from water during the typical refrigerator filter life of six months. Additional testing was done to determine whether counterfeit filters introduced harmful chemicals into clean water. Here are the details on what the tests revealed:

1. Lead Test. Counterfeit filters failed to remove harmful lead from household water. Requirement: Labels on counterfeit filters claim to reduce lead in water to meet the NSF/ANSI

53 standard of less than 10 parts per billion (ppb). Of the filters tested, only two out of 18 filters successfully filtered out lead for the full six-month

life of the filter. In a separate test of 14 filters, eight filters failed to remove lead at half their stated life.

2. Cyst Test. Counterfeit filters failed to remove live cysts from household water. Requirement: NSF/ANSI 53 standards require filters to reduce the presence of cysts

(cryptosporidium parvum oocysts) by 99.95 percent. To allow for a margin of error, AHAM lowered the bar to a 90 percent for its test.

Even with the lower standard, seven out of eight counterfeit filters failed to removed 90 percent of cysts, despite labels claiming they would.

Common water-borne microbiological cysts are parasites that can cause mild to severe gastrointestinal disease and illnesses.

3. Extraction Test. Some counterfeit filters introduced harmful compounds into household water. (This was the most shocking test result we discovered.)

Requirement: Per NSF/ANSI standards 42/53 4.1, filters should not introduce contaminants so that none are above the allowable limit. The test checked for 159 different contaminants that could be introduced in water, such as volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organics, other semi-volatile organics, regulated metals and nitrosamines.

After uncontaminated water sat in 46 counterfeits for three 24-hour periods, 10 separate compounds were found over the total allowable concentration.

The counterfeit filters introduced contaminants – elements such as arsenic, ethanol and octane — into clean sample water. The chemicals are consistent with those leached by non-food grade plastics.

In one of the groups, the water had arsenic levels that exceeded the total allowable limit, which is required to be less than 5 ppb. The arsenic extraction exposure level was set under a settlement agreement pursuant to the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

Conclusion The exact number of counterfeits sold each year is unknown, but may be as high as close to 2 million filters per

year. They flood the market every day, impersonating manufacturer brands across the industry. Not only do they steal manufacturer IP and branding, these products are not tested for consumer safety, do not use food grade materials and pose a serious health risk for consumers. Fraudulent labeling:

o Makes promises to consumers to remove contaminants from household water, however, consumers who purchase these counterfeit filters are not receiving the health and safety benefits promised.

o Assures consumers that these filters were certified not to leach contaminants into household water above acceptable levels.

In addition, counterfeit filters can leak and damage your refrigerator and kitchen and violate your refrigerator’s warranty, costing you additional time and money for repairs.

The Solution Only purchase filters sold by a refrigerator manufacturer that stands behind its products. For a complete list of

trusted filters and more information about the report findings, visit FilterItOut.org.