Chinese Drywall Health Risks Unclear April 20, 2009

Since last January complaints have spread from several homes in Florida to hundreds more in several other states.  Growing worries and complaints have driven homeowners to file lawsuits and seek aid from lawmakers.  Some homeowners have left their homes for fear of becoming sick.

So far, two United States Senators have proposed a ban on particular Chinese drywall imports.  The actual health risks of the tainted drywall are still unknown. Homeowners continue to blame the drywall for headaches, bloodynoses, and other allergy symptoms while the Florida Health Department found that the gasses emitted from the drywall posed no health risk.

Morton Lippmann has reviewed the findings of recent tests performed by the Florida Health Departments on Chinese drywall.  Mr. Lippmann is a professor of environmental medicine at New York University and is not involved in any lawsuits filed against manufacturers, Mr. Lippmann says, “It seems more likely that it’s a nasty odor problem, as opposed to something acutely toxic.”

Toxicologist Nachman Brautbar, a clinical professor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine has also reviewed the same findings and states that, “Sulfur compound gases, even at low levels, have been found to cause respiratory problems, this clearly needs more study.”