Standard
NSF/ANSI 42: taste, odor and particulate
The aesthetic standard. Chlorine taste and odor, and particles.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42. Not named: 53, 401.One cell filled. That is the whole point of this page: a listing naming 42 has filled exactly one cell, and the other two are still empty.
What it covers
Aesthetic effects: things you can taste, smell or see. Chlorine taste and odor is the headline claim, and particulate reduction is graded by particle size class.
What NSF/ANSI 42 actually is
NSF/ANSI 42 is the standard for aesthetic effects in drinking water treatment units. Aesthetic is a precise word here rather than a dismissive one: it means the properties of water a person can perceive directly. Chlorine taste and odor is the claim most household filters carry under it, and particulate reduction, graded by the size of particle a filter is certified to catch, is the other.
Like the other standards in this family, 42 also carries requirements that have nothing to do with what comes out of the tap: the materials the unit is made from, the structural integrity of a housing that holds line pressure, and the accuracy of what the manufacturer prints on the box. A product certified to 42 has been assessed against all of that, not only against a chlorine test.
Certification is claim by claim, not standard by standard
This is the part that marketing copy erases. A product is not certified to NSF/ANSI 42 in general. It is certified for specific reduction claims that fall under 42, and the certifier publishes which ones. Two filters can both truthfully say they are certified to 42 and carry different claims.
That is why the certifier listings matter more than the listing page. NSF, WQA and IAPMO R&T each publish searchable databases of what a given model is certified for. The listing tells you a number; the database tells you the claims behind it.
Why "reduces 50+ impurities" is not this
A count of impurities is a number a seller chose to publish. It has no defined list, no test method attached, and no certifier standing behind it. NSF/ANSI 42 is a published standard with a defined scope, a test protocol and a certifying body that can be asked.
Both sentences can sit on the same listing, and on several listings in this catalog they do. When they do, the number is decoration and the standard is the substance.
What 42 looks like in this catalog
Six listings on this site name a standard number that includes 42. Four of them are genuine refrigerator cartridges that name 53 and 401 as well. The other two are aftermarket cartridges that name 42 and nothing else.
That last pair is the interesting case. Both aftermarket cartridges name an actual standard number while the genuine cartridge they are stated to replace names only "NSF/ANSI standards" with no number at all. Naming 42 is more specific than naming nothing, and it is also narrower than naming three. Both of those are true, and neither is a statement about brands.
What it does not cover
- Any claim from the NSF/ANSI 53 list, including lead, unless the product is separately certified to 53
- Any claim from the NSF/ANSI 401 list of incidental and emerging compounds
- Microbiological safety of the incoming water
- How long the cartridge lasts in your particular household
- Whether the cartridge physically fits your appliance
How to read a claim
A listing that names NSF/ANSI 42 has told you the product is certified for one or more aesthetic claims. It has not told you which ones, and it has told you nothing about the 53 or 401 lists. When you see 42 alone, read it as 42 alone.
Listings that name it
Listings whose text names 42 as a standard number. A listing saying only "NSF certified" is not in this list, because it has not named a standard.
The first of them is everydrop Filter 1, EDR1RXD1. The listing names all three standard numbers, which is why all three cells are filled. It sits in Refrigerator Water Filters.
6 listings shown, which is all of them
Only listing here naming coconut shell carbonCoconut shell carbon appears on one filter listing in this category. The others name carbon block or name no medium at all.
everydrop Filter 1, EDR1RXD1
6 month life statedThe listing states NSF 42, 53 and 401 certification, reduction of 70 contaminants including 99% microplastics, coconut shell carbon, 6-month life.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 401.The listing names all three standard numbers, which is why all three cells are filled.
View the listing on AmazonA genuine cartridge whose listing names all three standard numbers, which almost nothing else in this category does. The 70 contaminants and 99% microplastics figures are separate seller claims that sit beside the certification rather than inside it.
Suits A Whirlpool-family fridge that takes the EDR1RXD1 cartridge.
everydrop Filter 2, EDR2RXD1
6 month life statedThe listing states NSF 42, 53 and 401 certification, reduction of 70 contaminants including 99% microplastics, 6-month life.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 401.The listing names all three standard numbers, which is why all three cells are filled.
View the listing on AmazonThe Filter 2 cartridge, with the same three standard numbers named and the same six month stated interval. The cartridge shape is the difference from Filter 1, not the certification.
Suits A Whirlpool-family fridge that takes the EDR2RXD1 cartridge.
everydrop Filter 4, EDR4RXD1
The listing states NSF 42, 53 and 401 certification and reduction of 32 contaminants including 99% microplastics.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 401.The listing names all three standard numbers, which is why all three cells are filled.
View the listing on AmazonThe Filter 4 cartridge names the same three standard numbers as Filters 1 and 2 but states 32 contaminants rather than 70. That is the clearest example on this site of two numbers moving independently: the certification is identical, the seller's contaminant count is not.
Suits A Whirlpool-family fridge that takes the EDR4RXD1 cartridge.
Only listing here stating a gallon figure200 gallons, and it is the one fridge filter listing in this category that states gallons rather than months alone.
LG LT1000P Refrigerator Filter
200 gallon rating statedThe listing states NSF 42, 53 and 401 certification, a 6-month or 200-gallon capacity.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 401.The listing names all three standard numbers, which is why all three cells are filled.
View the listing on AmazonA genuine LG cartridge that names all three standard numbers and states both a six month interval and a 200-gallon capacity. Stating both is the correct way to rate a filter, and it is why this listing is the one the filter life tool has the most to work with.
Suits An LG fridge that takes the LT1000P cartridge.
Crystala XWFE Compatible Filter
The listing states NSF/ANSI 42 certification and replacement for GE XWFE and XWF, with a built-in chip.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42. Not named: 53, 401.The listing names NSF/ANSI 42 and no other number, so one cell is filled and two stay empty. Nothing here implies 53 or 401.
View the listing on AmazonAn aftermarket cartridge whose listing names NSF/ANSI 42 and states it replaces GE XWFE and XWF. Naming 42 is more than the genuine GE listing manages, and it is also narrower than 42, 53 and 401 together. Both of those things are true at once.
Suits A GE fridge owner who wants the standard number stated rather than implied.
GLACIER FRESH XWFE Compatible Filter
The listing states NSF/ANSI 42 certification and replacement for GE XWFE and XWF, with a built-in chip.
Named on the listing: NSF/ANSI 42. Not named: 53, 401.The listing names NSF/ANSI 42 and no other number, so one cell is filled and two stay empty. Nothing here implies 53 or 401.
View the listing on AmazonThe second aftermarket XWFE cartridge here, with the same stated NSF/ANSI 42 certification and the same built-in chip. Two sellers, the same standard number, the same stated cartridge codes: the comparison on the XWFE page is between these two and the genuine cartridge.
Suits A GE fridge owner comparing two aftermarket cartridges on the same stated standard.