Feds find association between Chinese drywall, corrosion

The federal government says it has found a “strong association” between problematic imported Chinese drywall, and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year. In its second report on the potentially defective building materials, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said its investigation also has found a “possible” link between health problems reported by homeowners and hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the wallboard coupled with formaldehyde, which is commonly found in new houses. The agency, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continues to study the potential health effects, and the long-term implications of the corrosion. The commission says it can now move forward with additional studies to identify effective remediation of the problem and potential assistance from the federal government in fixing it. The agency has spent $3.5 million on the studies, and has received more than 2,000 homeowner complaints from 32 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, in one of its largest consumer product investigations in U.S. history. The commission released its first report on the drywall last month, noting further studies were needed before it could consider a recall, ban or other action. During the height of the U.S. housing boom, with building materials in short supply, American construction companies imported millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap. The use was heavily concentrated in the Southeast, especially Florida, and areas of Louisiana and Mississippi hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.