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People are being gassed, plumbing and wiring attacked and corroded. The problem is real. Now comes the US solution 
April 2, 2010
U.S. Urges Homeowners to Remove Chinese Drywall
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
The federal government on Friday instructed families with certain Chinese-made drywall to rid their homes of the material and replace electrical wiring, gas pipes and sprinkler systems.
The drywall has been linked to respiratory and electrical problems in thousands of new homes, primarily in Florida and Louisiana. Consumer advocates have argued that high levels of hydrogen sulfide in the drywall corrode electrical wires and create health risks.
NYTimes helpful graphic: Chinese man loading drywall- check
For now, homeowners must front the cost of removing the drywall, which builders estimate at more than $100,000 a home.
But lawmakers and consumer groups called Friday for providing financial assistance to the about 3,000 households that have complained about the drywall.
“Removing the problem drywall is the best solution currently available to homeowners,” the chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, said in a statement.
The commission was joined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in issuing the recommendations. Those guidelines said homeowners should remove their walls and replace fire and carbon monoxide alarms, circuit breakers, outlets, switches and gas pipes.
The commission has recommended that the Internal Revenue Service allow homeowners to deduct drywall-related costs from their income tax returns.
“These are families who are suffering financially, they’re suffering physically, and in many cases the value of their home has gone down substantially,” said Scott J. Wolfson, a spokesman for the commission.
A study released Friday by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, which was hired by the commission, showed that the Chinese drywall emitted hydrogen sulfide at a rate 100 times greater than non-Chinese samples.
Preliminary studies have indicated that hydrogen sulfide, combined with formaldehyde, high temperatures and above-average humidity, has led to nosebleeds and headaches for some residents.
The commission has no evidence of long-term health problems, but it has hired an outside group to investigate that possibility. It is also exploring whether the long-term corrosion of the wiring could cause fires, though no fires have been reported.
A group of homeowners has sued the Chinese manufacturers and the American companies that imported the drywall in federal court in New Orleans. The case is pending.
The drywall was installed in homes across the South during the housing boom, when the supply of American-made drywall was limited and Chinese materials were cheap. Construction surged after hurricanes devastated many parts of the Gulf Coast.
The commission has received complaints about the drywall from households in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia.
On Friday, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, suggested that the Chinese government take some responsibility for not pre-empting the problems.
“The way I see it, homeowners didn’t cause this,” he told the Associated Press. “The manufacturers in China did.”
No word on the decision of developers to opt for the cheaper Chinese product. ;)
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, another Florida Democrat, called on insurers to honor claims by affected families. Through a spokesman, she said she would continue to put pressure on local governments and the I.R.S. to offer relief.
She called the guidelines issued Friday “an important first step for homeowners who have been battling the nightmare of Chinese drywall.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/bu...l?ref=business
April 2, 2010
The drywall has been linked to respiratory and electrical problems in thousands of new homes, primarily in Florida and Louisiana. Consumer advocates have argued that high levels of hydrogen sulfide in the drywall corrode electrical wires and create health risks.
NYTimes helpful graphic: Chinese man loading drywall- check
For now, homeowners must front the cost of removing the drywall, which builders estimate at more than $100,000 a home.
But lawmakers and consumer groups called Friday for providing financial assistance to the about 3,000 households that have complained about the drywall.
“Removing the problem drywall is the best solution currently available to homeowners,” the chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, said in a statement.
The commission was joined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in issuing the recommendations. Those guidelines said homeowners should remove their walls and replace fire and carbon monoxide alarms, circuit breakers, outlets, switches and gas pipes.
The commission has recommended that the Internal Revenue Service allow homeowners to deduct drywall-related costs from their income tax returns.
“These are families who are suffering financially, they’re suffering physically, and in many cases the value of their home has gone down substantially,” said Scott J. Wolfson, a spokesman for the commission.
A study released Friday by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, which was hired by the commission, showed that the Chinese drywall emitted hydrogen sulfide at a rate 100 times greater than non-Chinese samples.
Preliminary studies have indicated that hydrogen sulfide, combined with formaldehyde, high temperatures and above-average humidity, has led to nosebleeds and headaches for some residents.
The commission has no evidence of long-term health problems, but it has hired an outside group to investigate that possibility. It is also exploring whether the long-term corrosion of the wiring could cause fires, though no fires have been reported.
A group of homeowners has sued the Chinese manufacturers and the American companies that imported the drywall in federal court in New Orleans. The case is pending.
The drywall was installed in homes across the South during the housing boom, when the supply of American-made drywall was limited and Chinese materials were cheap. Construction surged after hurricanes devastated many parts of the Gulf Coast.
The commission has received complaints about the drywall from households in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia.
On Friday, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, suggested that the Chinese government take some responsibility for not pre-empting the problems.
“The way I see it, homeowners didn’t cause this,” he told the Associated Press. “The manufacturers in China did.”
No word on the decision of developers to opt for the cheaper Chinese product. ;)
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, another Florida Democrat, called on insurers to honor claims by affected families. Through a spokesman, she said she would continue to put pressure on local governments and the I.R.S. to offer relief.
She called the guidelines issued Friday “an important first step for homeowners who have been battling the nightmare of Chinese drywall.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/bu...l?ref=business
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