The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), a testing and certification organization in the water industry, has announced a new certification program for the health effects of manufacturers’ ingredients in drinking water products: NSF Guideline 533 — Ingredients Used in Drinking Water Products.
NSF has been listing PVC ingredients since the 1980s for PVC pressure pipes but has not expanded to other ingredients than PVC until now. Expanding its PVC ingredient listings will now include ingredients used in other material types, such as CPVC, PE, Nylon, etc., for health effects evaluation only.
"It can be challenging for ingredient suppliers to connect with product manufacturers, especially in foreign markets," said Nasrin Kashefi, Senior Manager of Residential Water at NSF. "An NSF listing for manufacturer’s ingredients on NSF’s public website exposes suppliers to hundreds of drinking water product manufacturers worldwide. Additionally, the NSF Guideline 533 certification program provides a listing that allows ingredient manufacturers to market their ingredients as NSF certified, which can help facilitate the listing of their customer's products under NSF/ANSI 14, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61."
NSF Guideline 533 expands NSF's certification offerings to include ingredients used in drinking water products. Certified ingredient manufacturers can use the dedicated NSF mark to prove that their product is safe as reviewed by a third party.
"Manufacturers' customers can also enjoy simpler NSF approvals for products made with their ingredients,” added Nasrin. “In most cases, no further testing or evaluation is required, which simplifies the process and reduces the cost. For product manufacturers, using NSF-listed ingredients enables quick sourcing of alternative ingredients and increases formulation flexibility."
