Firms to Remove Lead From Faucets by 2000 : Environment: Seven makers agree to meet state’s tough standard in settling long-running suit.

Settling a long-running legal battle over the danger of lead in household water faucets, a group of major manufacturers has agreed to eliminate lead from most faucets sold by 2000.

Under the terms of a settlement announced Thursday by the state attorney general’s office, seven faucet manufacturers have consented to meet the state’s standard for lead content--the strictest in the nation.

Until the lead has been removed, the firms participating in the settlement will place tags on their products warning of the presence of lead and of the harm it can do, said Ed Weil, the assistant attorney general in charge of the case.

Several of the firms, including two of the nation’s largest faucet manufacturers, will apply that standard to faucets sold elsewhere in the country, said the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that joined in the lawsuit brought by the attorney general against the faucet makers.

In the suit, the state argued that many faucets sold in the United States, including models made by defendants, release 30 to 40 times as much lead in tap water as is permitted under the state’s standard.

Prolonged exposure to lead can damage the nervous system, impair kidney functions and slow the production of blood cells. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regards lead as the leading environmental threat to children’s health. Exposure has been shown to cause neurological damage and learning disabilities.

The attorney general’s lawsuit is one of a series of cases brought by the state against the manufacturers of consumer products--including crystal decanters, fine china and domestic well pumps that contain lead--under Proposition 65, the 1986 voter initiative requiring warnings on products that expose the public to hazardous substances.

Four companies named in the faucet suit did not join the settlement. The most prominent holdout is industry giant Price-Pfister, whose lawyers argue that the amount of lead from faucets that people consume in tap water is not enough to harm them. Still, James Meeder, a San Francisco lawyer representing Price-Pfister, did not rule out the possibility of reaching a settlement eventually.

At least one company that joined the settlement insists that their faucets have never exceeded the California standard. Michele Corash, a lawyer representing the maker of Delta and Peerless faucets, said the settlement amounted largely to an agreement on an acceptable method of testing lead in faucets.

The California standard for lead and other chemicals linked to birth defects has always been controversial. The standard is violated and a warning required under Proposition 65 if exposure levels rise above one-thousandth of the lowest dose proved to be harmful in laboratory tests of animals.

But the ill effects of lead result from cumulative intake, often from a variety of sources over a number of years. Defenders of the California standard say it is designed to ensure that repeated exposures do not lead to unhealthful accumulations of lead.

Lead exposure from faucets tends to be highest when the faucets are new, according to the attorney general. With any faucet suspected of containing lead, consumers are encouraged to let the water run for 60 seconds before using it for drinking or cooking.

The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that 50 million faucets containing lead are sold in the United States annually.