Drywall not linked to health issues yet

MANATEE — Federal officials have not linked Chinese drywall to health problems and metal corrosion yet, despite homeowners’ and politicians’ criticism and initial laboratory test results released Thursday.

Those tests showed the imported drywall has more sulfur and strontium, and emits higher rates of volatile sulfuric compounds than comparable North American wallboard. But officials called those tests limited, saying at least another month of study is needed before they can say whether Chinese drywall is causing homes’ corroded pipes and electrical outlets, foul odors, and runny noses, sore throats and other health problems.

“We’re still trying to find that link, that connection,” Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said. “We must have scientific proof of the hazards of the problem.”

The CPSC has spent eight months and $3.5 million in leading a multi-agency investigation into the building product, whose use surged during the 2004-07 building and post-hurricane reconstruction boom because of American drywall shortages. Enough Chinese drywall was imported to potentially be in 100,000 U.S. homes, more than a third of them in Florida, according to estimates.

But the lack of conclusive answers thus far continues to frustrate homeowners and their elected officials.

“I simply don’t think it is happening fast enough,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told CPSC officials during a briefing on the investigation.

Nelson also penned a letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to discuss the drywall issue when the president visits China next month.

A CPSC official urged patience, saying science needs time to determine the root of the issue.

“We’d like to be able to give you an answer that we know is 100 percent,” Lori Saltzman, director of the agency’s hazard identification and reduction office, told Nelson and other congressional members. “Unfortunately, forensic investigation does take time. We want to get you the right answer.”

To help find it, the CPSC tested 17 drywall samples — seven from China and the rest from the U.S., Canada and Mexico — to determine their chemical composition.

Those tests found sulfur concentrations in the Chinese samples that were up to 49 times higher than those found in the North American samples. Levels of strontium, a soft metal often used in fireworks and flares, were up to 31 times higher in the Chinese samples, but not high enough to pose a radiological risk.

While that mirrored results from earlier tests conducted by others, CPSC scientists warned there still isn’t enough evidence to conclude that is causing metal corrosion or harming people’s health.

“These effects might be caused by combinations of chemicals, different forms of the chemicals present in the drywall, or something else not considered in the elemental analysis,” the scientists said in their report.