Latest dangerous Chinese import

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Van

SatelliteGuys Master
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Jul 8, 2004
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Virginia Beach
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/chinesemade-drywall-raises-developers-concerns


Chinese-made drywall raises developer's concerns




By Mike Saewitz
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 24, 2009

A prominent local developer is inspecting nearly 60 homes it built in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach because they are suspected of containing Chinese-made drywall that appears to emit a sulfur-based gas.

The Dragas Companies confirmed Monday that the imported drywall was installed by a subcontractor, unbeknownst to the development firm, in some homes at The Hampshires at Greenbrier in Chesapeake and in Cromwell Park in Virginia Beach.

The company said it is paying to fix homes with imported drywall and also helping residents relocate for a few months while the work is being done.

Chesapeake city and health department officials are investigating as well.

"There is general consensus that the gas that is emitted contributes to corrosion of wiring in appliances and may evoke respiratory or (gastrointestinal) complaints in persons who are particularly sensitive (similar to some persons' responses to fresh paint)," Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department, wrote in an e-mail. She said the high-risk or permanent health effects are unknown.

Chesapeake - as well as some elected officials - learned about the case from Barry Ryan, whose 83-year-old father moved into one of the condominiums at The Hampshires in 2006. By 2008, Barry Ryan said his father, Orville, began to develop rashes and respiratory problems. A doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong.

In an e-mail to state legislators and newspaper editors, Ryan attached two articles detailing allegations that Chinese-made drywall was corroding electrical and mechanical equipment in some Florida homes.

Attorneys have filed class-action lawsuits arguing that defective drywall also has led to problems in homes in Louisiana and Alabama.

Partial cut and paste from Virginia Pilot
 
Were these labeled Chinese? Mostly, they were used in original construction and contractor renovations, weren't they? You'd never know.
 
Not sure about the labeling, I've never paid attention when buying drywall but I will in the future.
 
I bet the labelling isn't significant. It is the gypsum in the wallboard that is the problem, at least according to the few stories I was able to google up. Gypsum is shipped around the world in huge ships, nailing down where the gypsum came from for a specific lot of wallboard would be near impossible.
A couple of articles I found accused National Gypsum(US company) of using Chinese wallboard and re-labelling it as their own.
Aside from the health dangers to the involved families, it must be heartbreaking to move into a new house only to shortly realize it will have to be bull dozed.
 
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