Preliminary studies on the leaching of some trace metals from kitchen faucets

Preliminary studies were carried out on the leaching of copper, zinc, chromium, cadmium and lead from eight kitchen faucets by samples of raw, filtered and distributed Ottawa water, a sample of well water and deionized water containing 2 mg l−1 aqueous fulvic acid. Leaching was effected by allowing the test solutions to stand in the inverted faucets for two successive 24-h periods. Concentrations of the metals found in the leachates were copper: first leaching, 0.12–28.0 mg l−1, second leaching, 0.08-3.54 mg l−1; zinc: first leaching, 0.13-10.25 mg l−1, second leaching, 0.06-2.85 mg l−1; chromium: first leaching