From the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Press Statement on Corrosion in Homes and Connections to Chinese Drywall

Results from a major indoor air study of 51 homes are being released today along with
initial reports from two studies of corrosion in homes with Chinese drywall. We now can
show a strong association between homes with the problem drywall and the levels of
hydrogen sulfide in those homes and corrosion of metals in those homes.

By identifying this association, the Interagency Drywall Task Force can now move
forward to develop protocols that will identify homes with this corrosive environment
and can determine the effectiveness of remediation methods. The Task Force continues to
work with Congressional and White House officials to determine the best approaches to
design and fund these identification and remediation efforts to help the families dealing
with this issue.

“We now have the science that enables the Task Force to move ahead to the next phase –
to develop both a screening process and effective remediation methods. Ongoing studies
will examine health and safety effects, but we are now ready to get to work fixing this
problem,” said U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

Chinese Drywall Studies

The 51 home study contracted by CPSC was done by Environmental Health &
Engineering (EH&E), an internationally known environmental testing firm based in
Massachusetts.

In addition, today two preliminary reports on corrosion safety issues are being released. The Sandia National Laboratories’ (SNL) Materials and Engineering Center is studying the long-term electrical safety hazards of conductor metal components. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is studying the corrosion effects on fire safety components taken from complaint homes.

Chinese Drywall Findings

EH&E compared 41 “complaint” homes in five states selected from CPSC’s consumer
incident report database, with 10 noncomplaint homes built around the same time in the
same area as the complaint homes. Homes were sampled between July and September
2009.

The EH&E findings are that hydrogen sulfide gas is the essential component that causes
copper and silver sulfide corrosion found in the complaint homes. Other factors,
including air exchange rates, formaldehyde and other air contaminants contribute to the
reported problems.

Meanwhile the first chinese drywall lawsuit trial has been scheduled for January 25, 2010 in New Orleans.

Related Posts:

1. CPSC Identifies Manufacturers of Problem Drywall Made in China
2. CPSC and HUD Issue Updated Remediation Protocol for Homes with Problem Drywall
3. Chinese Drywall Testing looking to be expedited
4. CPSC Investigation Finds No Problem Drywall or Environmental Factors Linked to Ft. Bragg Deaths
5. CDC Review Finds No Link Between Problem Drywall and 11 Reported Deaths