CPSC Completes Study Of Chinese Drywall

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says it has found a strong association in homes with drywall from China and high levels of hydrogen sulfide and metal corrosion. By identifying this association, CPSC and other federal agencies can proceed to develop protocols to identify more homes with these problems and develop remediation methods. “Ongoing studies will examine health and safety effects, but we are now ready to get to work fixing the problem,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum in a statement. Even though occupants of some of the homes with the problem drywall complained of airway, skin, and eye irritation, the agency found only low levels of H₂S and normal levels of formaldehyde and other aldehydes. CPSC speculated that some additive effect from the compounds may have caused the health problems. Additional studies are being done at NIST and other federal labs to identify other possible toxic compounds in the drywall.