Chinese drywall causes concern in Lee

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Chinese drywall causes concern in Lee Sulfur odor prompts material testing in some Lee homes

By MARY WOZNIAK, mwozniak@...

and

DICK HOGAN, dhogan@...

• December 20, 2008

http://news-press.com/article/20081220/NEWS01/81219086

Chinese drywall installed in houses in Lee County and elsewhere could be causing noxious odors, air conditioning failures and health problems.

The problem appears to be from drywall imported during the construction boom years of 2004-05, building experts say.

At least one family in Fort Myers was forced to move out while builder Aubuchon Homes determines whether drywall is the culprit.

“We have not confirmed that the issue is the drywall,” said Aubuchon, president of Aubuchon Homes and state representative from Cape Coral.

Aubuchon is paying to relocate the family while the drywall and indoor air quality is tested further, he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency confirms there is a problem with drywall, but says the breadth and severity of that problem are unknown.

“It is the drywall, and from what I gather it is causing a problem with copper and, specifically, air conditioning units,” said Dawn -Young, spokeswoman from the EPA’s Region 4 in Atlanta.

One builder said he has encountered the suspect drywall but is skeptical that it’s causing air conditioning problems.

Jay Coughlin, vice president of Engle Homes in Fort Myers, said he has encountered Chinese drywall in just two houses.

In both instances, the buyers complained of a sulfur odor and Engle, using air-quality tests, determined that the drywall was causing the problem.

Engle replaced the drywall in one house and used ozone, fogging and barrier paint in the other. Both times the smell was eliminated, Coughlin said.

“The air conditioning and the coils and the copper wires behind the walls had shown no signs of corrosion” in the two houses, Coughlin said. “We have noticed that there have been air conditioner coil failures in units produced by one manufacturer produced in one period of time.”

Della White, co-owner of Fort Myers-based Environmental Services Group, said she first encountered a Chinese drywall problem about six months ago and determined that despite the sulfur smell, “there was nothing in this environment harmful to anyone.”

She’s helping the owner solve the problem by purifying the air and is working on another case that may turn out to be drywall-related.

Eldredge, administrator for the state health department’s Radon and Indoor Air Toxics Office, said the department has received fewer than 50 complaints from nine counties: Lee, Collier, Miami-Dade, Broward, Pinellas, Manatee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie.

“We have been provided with evidence of complaints of issues of sulfur odors in homes,” Eldredge said. “We have been told about the associated failure of (air conditioning) coils.”

The complaints began about three months ago, Eldredge said.

The drywall appears to be emitting sulfur compounds that are corroding coils and other copper-bearing materials, causing them to be replaced repeatedly.

One of the builders affected is Lennar Homes, Eldredge said.

Representatives of Lennar Homes could not be reached Friday.

Eldredge cautioned that the health department cannot confirm exactly what the source of the problem is, but the department is working with a consultant representing a home builder who believes sulfur gases from drywall are the problem.

“It certainly does raise concerns,” said Dr. Krause, toxicologist for the state Health Department. “There may be a direct health threat.”

The drywall could be emitting any of several sulfur compounds, including sulfur dioxide or hydrogen sulfide, he said.

Any health risk would depend on the type of compound and the concentration, he said.

The biggest concern would be for sensitive populations: The very young, the elderly, people with asthma and chemical sensitivities would be at greatest risk, he said.

Greg Alspaugh, owner of Coral Plastering & Wall Systems in Lee County, said the Chinese drywall that came into this market three to four years ago often was of poor quality.

“Most of it was really brittle,” Alspaugh said. “By the time the company delivered it and you put it on a wall, you had pieces on the floor.”

Doug Hoffman, executive director of the National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors, said he has been getting a lot of reports about the Chinese drywall recently from his members — mainly in the Southeast.

“What they’re finding is that the drywall being shipped over from China is emitting much higher levels of sulfur, methane and other volatile organic compounds” than is considered healthy.

Ripping out the defective drywall might be the easiest route, especially if there’s a relatively small amount of it. But other solutions include air filtration systems and using the right type of paint to seal off the bad drywall, Hoffman said.

Aubuchon said that the Fort Myers home built by his firm did not have an odor issue, but that the air conditioning system had to be replaced more than once.

The problems arose in November, he said.

Aubuchon suspected the problem might be Chinese drywall, but a piece was tested and the result was negative, he said. Now another piece is undergoing more intensive tests, he said.

There is one other Aubuchon home in Fort Myers with similar problems that the company is testing, but the residents have not been moved out, he said.

Meanwhile, Eldredge said the state heath department is working with a group of toxicologists from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, consultants and gathering information from 67 county health departments.

Dr. Judith Hartner, head of the Lee County Health Department, said she had not heard of any problems.

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