Chinese Drywall

As if Florida’s housing market hasn’t had enough bad news lately, it now seems that some homes built with imported Chinese drywall have experienced problems ranging from rotten egg odor to appliance failure, and in some cases health problems.  The culprit, according to homeowners involved in class action lawsuits in Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama, is high levels of sulfur within the drywall.  The corrosive gas has destroyed copper wiring, causing air conditioners and other appliances to fail.  Some homeowners claim the drywall has caused health problems, including headaches, sore throats, insomnia, and swollen joints.

During the boom years of 2005 and 2006, when frenzied new home construction combined with post-hurricane reconstruction, home builders found some material, including drywall, in short supply, and looked to cheap imports to fill the need. The gypsum used in the drywall, plaintiffs claim, originated in a Chinese mine with toxic levels of sulfur, though the companies that sell the drywall deny this claim.  It is estimated that the number of homes with Chinese dry wall could be as high as 50,000, with Florida accounting for as many as 30,000.  Time Magazine asks “Is Drywall the Next Chinese Import Scandal?“

Source: http://greenbuildingelements.com/2009/03/25/chinese-drywall-blamed-for-health-wiring-problems/

Click and stay up to date! www.helpchinesedrywall.com

By MELANIE TROTTMAN

Two U.S. Senators have filed a bill seeking a recall and temporary ban of certain Chinese-made drywall, the latest effort to address problems with Chinese-made drywall believed to be emitting unpleasant, sulfurous odors and causing unusual air-conditioner problems in homes from Florida to Louisiana.

Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduced the bill, which also asks the Consumer Product Safety Commission to conduct a study in conjunction with the National Institute for Standards and Technology and the Environmental Protection Agency. They want the study to include at least 10 samples of drywall that was imported from China during 2004 through 2007 and used in residential dwellings in the U.S. The study should include at least one sample of drywall from residences located in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia, according to the bill’s text. The bill is called the Drywall Safety Act of 2009.

Reports of problem drywall first surfaced in January in Florida, where Home builder Lennar Corp. is suing two Chinese manufacturers of drywall, claiming the wallboard is defective and is causing electrical problems and emitting rotten odors in dozens of homes in the state.

This month, the legal battle over the imported construction material spread to Louisiana, where a couple in a suburb filed a lawsuit against certain drywall manufacturers, alleging the wallboard in their house is emitting a “rotten egg” smell, causing respiratory problems and corroding electrical equipment.

The CPSC said in February it had begun an investigation of complaints about Chinese drywall, focusing on whether the sulfur-based gases emitted from the drywall are corroding household wiring and posing a potential safety hazard. At the time, the agency said it could order a halt in further sales of certain drywall products if it determines there’s a safety hazard.

On Monday, a spokesman for the CPSC said the agency doesn’t comment on proposed legislation, but he confirmed the agency’s investigation is continuing. Last week, the CPSC sent four additional staffers to Florida from its compliance, toxicology and electrical engineering departments in Washington, D.C. Those specialists joined field investigators in assessing homes in Florida and returned with samples to test, the spokesman said. The agency is determining what toxicology tests and protocols are needed next.

The CPSC has no safety standards for drywall, a construction material commonly used to build interior walls, and the agency has said it isn’t aware of other federal standards for the product. The bill asks the agency to determine whether a consumer-product-safety standard regulating the composition of materials used in drywall is necessary to protect the health and safety of residential homeowners.

Last week, Florida’s health department said preliminary tests show there’s no “specific” health hazard associated with the sulfur-based gases coming from the drywall, but the agency is conducting additional tests. The test results released by the state health department last week did make one, definitive conclusion: Chinese-made drywall contained strontium sulfide, a material that is known to have the odor of hydrogen sulfide in moist air, which can cause a rotten-egg odor. The U.S.-made drywall did not contain this material.

If it’s up to Sens. Nelson and Landrieu, affected homeowners will receive some relief. The lawmakers are asking the secretaries of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to provide mortgage relief and other assistance to affected homeowners, though they want the costs to be borne by makers of problematic materials and not U.S. taxpayers. Homeowners “are already suffering from depressed home values and negative economic conditions,” the lawmakers say in a resolution attached to the bill.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Click and stay up to date! www.helpchinesedrywall.com