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Signs You Have Chinese Drywall

Just Beyond Sight

Defective Chinese drywall itself has no visible defects, which in turn can make it difficult for consumers to tell by the label whether or not they are to be affected. It’s not until the consumer has moved into their home do they experience the defective signs of the drywall.

Metal Corrosion

The toxic emissions then take over expensive household appliances like air conditioning units’ and their evaporator coils, TV’s, refrigerators, plumbing and gas appliances, electrical outlets, and circuit breakers. Copper pipes and wires are corroded and a black coating is present due to a hazardous chemical reaction caused by the emissions. Other non-safety related symptoms include tarnishing and degrading of other metallic components like pictures frames, light fixtures, silver jewelry and mirrors.

The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has had multiple organizations propose that sulfur-reducing bacteria may be a source for sulfur emissions from problems drywall.

Affected Locations

Warm and Humid Climates Hit Hardest

In the United States, most complaints concerning Chinese Drywall have come from states in the Southeast, where a warm and humid climate seems to encourage the emissions. The states of Florida (59%), Louisiana (20%), Mississippi (6%) and Alabama (5%) made up 90% of the 3,082 cases reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as of April 2, 2010. More than 700 complaints had been filed with the Florida Department of Health. Sources estimated that from 60,000 to 100,000 homes could be affected.

Number (and Percentage) of Reports by State

To date, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has received about 3,602 reports from residents in 38 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico who believe their health symptoms or the corrosion of certain metal components in their homes are related to the presence of drywall produced in China. State and local authorities have also received similar reports.

Consumers largely report that their homes were built in 2006 to 2007, when an unprecedented increase in new construction occurred in part due to the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. Common features of the reports submitted to the CPSC from homes believed to contain problem drywall have been:

• Consumers have reported a "rotten egg" smell within their homes.
• Consumers have reported health concerns such as irritated and itchy eyes and skin, difficulty in breathing, persistent cough, bloody noses, runny noses, recurrent headaches, sinus infection, and asthma attacks.
• Consumers have reported blackened and corroded metal components in their homes and the frequent replacement of components in air conditioning units.

Chinese Versus American Drywall

Contaminated With Sulfur

Due to the U.S shortage of plasterboard and drywall following the string of hurricane disasters that hit Florida homes, building contractors’ outsourced materials from China help keep up with the construction demands at the time. Prior to the natural disaster, drywall had before been imported from China without defect problems. Investigations by the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) discovered that the defect in drywall is parallel with sulfuric levels found in Chinese “gypsum” mines, where the material is extracted from beneath the ground. The center of the Chinese mine controversy is located in the LuNeng mine, within the ShanDong province. The gypsum ore and the finished Chinese drywall are both sources of unpleasant sulfur-like odors. American Drywall samples contained similar substances, but generally at much lower levels and certainly did not exude the foul smells.

Subject to Rigorous Testing

American Drywall companies’ are commonly located in North America where they use synthetic gypsum material, or gypsum mined in North America, or a combination of both in their manufacturing. Right now, these companies are making considerable efforts to show consumers that they are both aware of the Chinese Drywall lawsuits, and have absolutely no associations with the problem Chinese made drywall. USG Corporation, one of the leading American gypsum companies, further stresses their regular product testing for purity, safety and production standards by company scientists and well as third party laboratories. These tests include chromatography, electron microscopy, spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction testing. American Drywall manufactures like USG Corporation are busy emphasizing the high-quality of their synthetic gypsum products to American consumers.

Millions of Sheets of Chinese Drywall Imported to U.S.

To date, the CPSC has confirmed that 5,503,694 sheets of Chinese Drywall were imported to the United States during 2006 alone. This is not the total of all defective imports as CPSC staffs are continuing to verify more shipments via the Customs and Border Protection databases. Unfortunately the CPSC’s effort in tracking an exact total is difficult, due to the duel use of same commodity code as acoustic or ceiling tiles.

Your Legal Options

If you or someone you know has installed drywall products in their home or commercial property since 2001 and experienced a strong sulfur odor or “rotten egg” smells, you should contact a physician immediately.

If you have suffered a personal injury and/or any property damage, and feel that you may need legal representation in this matter or are interested in more information on Chinese drywall litigation, please contact us, toll-free and an experienced attorney with Seeger Weiss LLP will assist you in evaluating your case concerning Chinese drywall.

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Attorney consultations incur no obligation on your part and all initial consultations are free of charge. Seeger Weiss LLP has office locations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California.

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