Metal
1015Cadmium
The health basis on which the EPA sets this contaminant's legal limit. Reported verbatim from the regulatory record — it is not a diagnosis or a prediction about any individual.
Kidney damage with long-term exposure; can leach from galvanized pipe and fittings.
- Maximum contaminant level
- 0.0050 mg/LLegal MCLEnforceable federal limit
- Health goal
- 0.0050 mg/LHealth goal (MCLG)No known health risk
- Category
- MetalCategory
- Reporting unit
- mg/LReporting unit
Regulatory basis
How Cadmium is regulated
What the enforceable limit actually obliges a utility to do, and how it differs from the health-based goal it is measured against.
For Cadmium the enforceable limit and the health goal are the same number, 0.0050 mg/L. EPA set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) at the health goal (MCLG), so there is no feasibility gap here: meeting the legal limit also means meeting the health-based goal. A value above 0.0050 mg/L is both an exceedance of the goal and a violation of the enforceable standard.
Results are reported in mg/L. A laboratory result and the limits above are only comparable when both are expressed in that same unit — a value in a different unit will be off by orders of magnitude. WaterQualityLens groups Cadmium under Metal for navigation; the grouping is ours, the limits are the regulator’s.
The record for Cadmium
- Enforceable limit (MCL)
- 0.0050 mg/L
- Health goal (MCLG)
- 0.0050 mg/L
- Reporting unit
- mg/L
- Category
- Metal
- Contaminant code
- 1015
Limits as published by EPA and state primacy agencies. This page reports regulatory and certification records; it does not assess anyone’s exposure and makes no health prediction.
Certification scope
Which certifications actually remove Cadmium
Only NSF/ANSI 53, 58 and 401 are health-contaminant standards. A product certified only to Standard 42 (aesthetics) or 372 (lead-free materials) has not been verified to reduce Cadmium, however the box is worded.
NSF/ANSI 53
Counts — health standardHealth effects: lead, VOCs, cysts, chromium, and (post-P473) PFAS reduction.
1 filter in our registry holds an independently verified NSF/ANSI 53 claim for Cadmium, listed below.
NSF/ANSI 58
Counts — health standardReverse osmosis: dissolved inorganics, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and total PFAS.
3 filters in our registry hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI 58 claim for Cadmium, listed below.
NSF/ANSI 401
Counts — health standardEmerging/incidental compounds: pharmaceuticals and select trace contaminants.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 401 claim for Cadmium. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 42
Does not count — not a health standardAesthetic effects: chlorine, taste, odor, particulates. No health-contaminant protection.
No registry product lists Cadmium under NSF/ANSI 42. It would not count as verification of Cadmium reduction in any case.
NSF/ANSI 372
Does not count — not a health standardLead-free materials (manufacturing content only). Not a water-treatment claim.
No registry product lists Cadmium under NSF/ANSI 372. It would not count as verification of Cadmium reduction in any case.
Counts are of active products in the WaterQualityLens filter registry holding a verified claim for contaminant code 1015 under that standard, as recorded by the certifying body (NSF, WQA, or IAPMO). Certification is granted per contaminant, not per product: a filter certified to Standard 53 for one contaminant is not thereby certified for Cadmium.
Certified reduction · commercial placements
Filters verified to reduce Cadmium
These filters hold an independent NSF/ANSI health certification (Standard 53, 58, or 401) specifically for Cadmium. Certification against a health standard means an accredited lab verified the filter reduces this contaminant — a materials-only claim such as NSF 42 or 372 does not.
- Verified PartnerBrita
Elite Pitcher (OB06)
BR-OB06Pitcher$39.99NSF/ANSI 53Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerFrizzlife
M800 Under-Sink Reverse Osmosis
FZ-M800Under-sink RO$399NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerAquaTru
Classic Countertop RO
AT-CLASSICCountertop RO$449NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerWaterdrop
G3P800 Under-Sink RO
WD-G3P800Under-sink RO$549NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
Hardware links are affiliate placements marked “Verified Partner.” Products appear here solely because they hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI health certification for Cadmium; commercial arrangements never affect this list.