News Archive
Corrosion study points to Chinese drywall
Released on 26/11/2009
There is a “strong association” between Chinese drywall and metal corrosion in American homes, the latest study reveals.
The US federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced 23rd November that samples taken from 41 houses where residents complained of corrosion suggest a link between the corrosion and the imported building material.
Two other preliminary studies, of electrical-component and fire safety-component corrosion, also support that finding, the CPSC says. But no definitive tie has been found yet between the drywall and health problems that home owners have reported.
CPSC says that it has received over 2,000 reports from 34 states and districts of possible health and corrosion problems that home owners say may be linked to Chinese drywall.
The government is assembling a team and a protocol for remediation and to identify other residences that have the same problem, CPSC said.
In October an interim CPSC report found no sure link between Chinese drywall and rotten egg smells, health problems and metal corrosion reported in thousands of homes.
Consumers also complained of health problems including bloody noses, recurrent headaches, shortness of breath and asthma attacks. Many consumers say they have to move out of their homes.
CPSC did, however, find that Chinese drywall contained elemental sulfur and a higher concentration of strontium, though tests found that the strontium in the drywall poses no radiological risk.
The CPSC said early results of testing show that Chinese drywall emits volatile sulfur compounds at a higher rate than the US-made drywall, but more tests are needed to determine the specific compounds being emitted.
America produces its own drywall but the housing boom and the reconstruction effort after Hurricane Katrina opened the US market to Chinese manufacturers. One Florida newspaper concluded that the amount of Chinese-manufactured drywall imported into the US since 2006 was potentially enough to build more than 60,000 homes nationwide.
Lawsuits have been filed against Chinese manufacturer, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of German-based group, Knauf. Knauf Tianjin has defended itself by saying it is cooperating with investigating agencies and launched its own toxicology tests, which it said showed the gases were not a health threat. The company also says its product makes up only 20 percent of imported drywall and that it is being sued for product that it didn’t make.
So far costing US$3.5 million, the drywall investigation is reported to be the largest in the CPSC’s history.
