Chinese Drywall
While we don't see it in the DC area, it's important to know some of the concerns and ways to determine if a home has this dangerous material which poses a health risk to occupants.
Drywall from China was imported into the U.S. from 2006 to
2008 to address the shortage of construction materials
created by the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons and the
national demand for new home construction. Beginning
about 2008, people living in homes built between 2001 and
2008 began reporting health issues. People also reported
corrosion of certain metal components in their homes. The
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the lead
federal agency for problem drywall, began investigating the
problem in 2009 with ATSDR and other agencies. In 2011,
ATSDR and CPSC agreed that more could be done to
estimate exposures to sulfur compounds emitted from
problem drywall and identify possible health risks from those
exposures.
Drywall from China was imported into the U.S. from 2006 to
2008 to address the shortage of construction materials
created by the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons and the
national demand for new home construction. Beginning
about 2008, people living in homes built between 2001 and
2008 began reporting health issues. People also reported
corrosion of certain metal components in their homes. The
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the lead
federal agency for problem drywall, began investigating the
problem in 2009 with ATSDR and other agencies. In 2011,
ATSDR and CPSC agreed that more could be done to
estimate exposures to sulfur compounds emitted from
problem drywall and identify possible health risks from those
exposures.
More Information:
https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Drywall-Information-Center
www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Drywall-Information-Center
http://www.floridahealth.gov/Environmental-Health/drywall/index.html
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/drywall/docs/Final%20drywall_factsheet_05-2-14.pdf
https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/114200/Remediation091511.pdf
