Can’t locate the old thread on this, but Wow! this must be getting to be something!!
As an intern architect I noticed that our MEP consultants specified domestically manufactured castings for plumbing fittings exclusively. When I finally asked one of them to explain this restriction he told me that many foreign manufacturers where held to no particular standards for their products including porosity of the casting. Then he asked me if I would object to having porous gas piping fittings in my home.
The fact is, in our global economy, we will continue to see problems like Ralph has shown us unless we 1) enact restrictions that will be seen as politically inconvenient even though they are done strictly for the well being of the populace or 2) Make ourselves aware of the possibility of such problems in an industry unregulated in some areas of the world and vote with our dollars. In other words, we (design professionals, contractors, owners, everybody) must really consider the whole cost of our decisions and not focus only on the lowest first cost.
Note that this report dealt primarily with residential construction in Florida which, if it is anything like Texas, has codes which probably do not have much to say about residential building beyond wind storm and immediate life safety matters.
on most of our domestic projects we restrict the use of foreign manufactured products - the only exception being if the product is proprietary and is only manufactured abroad and only if the MSDS has been reviewed and approved by a professional engineer hired by the Building Owner…since 99% of our projects are privately funded, I don’t believe in equality for all.
Ralph, there have been so many news articles on the Chinese drywall issues in Florida, that we can’t keep up with them, for those interested South Florida Business Journal had a extensive article last week and for those interested try googling Lenar Corp, So Kendall Construction, and WCI Communities and Chinese Drywall, those two developers seem to be getting hit the hardest. Also U of Florida and FL Dept of Health are good sources for info.
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/indoor-air/drywall.html
Vancouver Sun in BC also did a report on Chinese drywall imported thru the Port of Vancouver between 2001 and 2007. Product may have spread as far east as Toronto with all the same results as Florida. Class action lawsuits are starting to fly.
Report from the Vancouver Sun
Shortcut to: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Toxic+Chinese+drywall+accused+health+problems/1377648/story.html
04/11/2009 AP IMPACT: Chinese drywall poses potential risks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_bi_ge/chinese_drywall
Interestiing story on CBS News about drywall and how the “Problem” may extend to some US manufactured drywall as well.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/23/national/main5749657.shtml?tag=stack
I don’t see in this article any problems or suspicions noted for US manufactured drywall.
Does the problematic Chinese drywall indicate that it is manufactured according to ASTM C1396?
The actual news story I watched on CBS National news specifically mentioned two major US drywall manufacturers whose products had shown similar problems as the chinese material (even mentioned names that I won’t repeat here). I figured the article in the link would include all that information. The only text in the article that implies a US problem is the headline “US: Chinese drywall corrosioin linked”
One specific example showed a home not in the south where the manufacturer’s name was visible on the drywall and it wasn’t chinese.
I wish I had more facts; wish the linked article was more complete.
Oldie but goodie–
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/18/chinese.drywall/index.html
New one today–
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09328/1015877-84.stm?cmpid=lifestyle.xml
Doug is correct: Here is a link to the CBS report which specifically mentions US produced drywall.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/23/cbsnews_investigates/main5752469.shtml
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I was going to ask about this, but see a thread has already started.
A courthouse that we provided architectural services is currently under construction. One of the judges saw the CBS report and sent an email to the project team asking for reassurance about the gypsum board. One of the suggestions by the team was to get random gypsum board samples tested … but my question was “what is an ‘acceptable’ sulfur offgas level, if any” that can be present in the board without causing deterioration, because even though testing may give us a number, what does that number exactly mean?
I’ve been trying to google as many different variations of that questions as I can, but I’m not finding anything that tells the answer. Can anyone help point me to a website or information that can help answer that question.
Tracy-
The State of Florida website linked above had a fairly extensive study called “Tab A - an elemental study of drywall” that seemed to address your question.
Much of the contaminated product was 1/2", thus it didn’t show up as frequently in commercial projects. It is my understanding the many of the major mfg purchased and rebranded - this is not illegal - the products with their label, so it may not have been manufactured domestically anyway.
Most of the major manufacturers also have comeout with statements about the contaminated products and many have links and documents on their sites.
Thanks, George! Reading the executive summary, it indicates that the reports are preliminary information and that a comprehensive exposure and risk assessment will be carried out … so it sounds like we haven’t heard the last of all this yet.
In reading some of the articles regarding chinese drywall it appears sulfur is a large part of the problem. In testing, even the “domestic” manufacturers include some amount of sulfur.
Logically, it appears reasonable for sulfur to be in synthetic gyp since its a byproduct of coal burning power plants.
Therefore maybe the question should be "Is sulfur an acceptable byproduct in drywall? If so, what should the maximum limits be for sulfur?
Chemically, gypsum is calcium sulfate, so there’s lots of sulfur in drywall. To what extent other forms of sulfur occur in naturally-occurring deposits of mineral gypsum I don’t know, but it seems possible that this could be the case. Maybe its more and maybe its less than flue-gas desulfurization gypsum. It is not clear at all, from what I read, what chemical form the sulfur in the suspect gypsum is in, though rotten egg smell is associated with hydrogen sulfide. Are there any chemists out there?
ASTM is developing a new standard to identify corrosive gypsum board.