The health risk of phosphogypsum is uncertain, but industry specialists say they are troubled by its widespread use and the possibility it was exported, especially in light of recent incidents in which other Chinese imports such as pet food, toys and candy were found to be contaminated with toxic or unsafe substances.
"Considering the fact that phosphogypsum can cause corrosion, something should be done," said Ding Dawu, a geoscientist and an authority on gypsum processing in China. "Right now," he added, "there are no complaints [in China] because most people don't know much about gypsum board and there are no standards against it."
[...]
Huge phosphogypsum dump sites can be seen in all corners of China. Near the banks of the Yangtze River in central China's Wuhan area, raw phosphogypsum is spread over 20 acres and packed 65 feet deep into the ground. The smell of sulfur permeates the air. Workers at the site said the material was given away to anyone willing to pay the transportation costs, a mere $1.75 per ton.
No one knows how much phosphogypsum board from China was shipped abroad. But in 2006, Chinese exports of drywall to the U.S. totaled a record 503 million pounds valued at more than $25 million, according to Chinese customs' statistics. That's enough for 32,000 homes.
The EPA, Customs, and the Department Commerce all say they aren't required to test drywall, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission says they only ask Customs to inspect items for which there are mandatory testing requirements. So, as usual, it's up to the Chinese quality protection agency to keep us safe.
Chinese drywall blamed for odors and corrosion in U.S. homes [The Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: The County Clerk)
Ye gods, is there any part of China that isn't a toxic waste dump? It boggles the mind.
And to think they are the most populous country in the world. It's a freaking human rights issue. Why isn't Amnesty International on the case?
]]>i think this "radioactive" stuff is a bit overboard. while i'm sure some chinese suppliers have used phosphogypsum to make drywall (as it says in the article), if you continue to read you'll notice that tests have shown there is no radioactive uranium or radium in the houses that had trouble and were tested. yet somehow these tests are deemed "inconclusive". also, while radiation does indeed damage materials, you wouldn't see corrosion as it's commonly understood. you would get brittling and cracking eventually, but certainly not in 5-10 years at the radiation levels found in phosphogypsum. plus, uranium and radium don't smell like sulfur, so where's the connection there? oh that's right, there's a single sentence in the article indicating that the gypsum (NOT phosphogypsum) used in these houses' drywall sheets was actually mined in an area of china where the ore has unusually high levels of sulfur compounds.
while i'm 100% positive there are houses in america that have slightly radioactive walls (a consumer issue in and of itself), the corrosion and smell we're seeing here can't be attributed to them.
]]>@stre: ...*radioactive* radium or uranium...
]]>@TechnoDestructo: while i agree with your RTFA sentiment, bwcbwc is somewhat correct. the original article was quick to mention "radioactive" but waited until almost the end of the article to note that detectable levels of radium or uranium were NOT found in the suspect homes. and that in fact, the drywall suppliers for those homes mined gypsum from areas where "ores have unusually high levels of sulphur compounds". and we wonder why the houses started smelling like rotten eggs?
there is definitely some sensationalism at work here.
]]>@Mollyg: as a fellow nuclear engineer, i had to question it myself, but a little research showed that phosphogypsum actually is radioactive, though in varying amounts. there's apparently tons of the stuff in florida, but the stuff in northern florida is mild enough to use for agricultural purposes, while the stuff in central florida is 2.5 times as hot as the legal limit for agricultural use.
the radioactivity is apparently due to the naturally ocurring uranium and radium that is in it, and the levels of radioactivity change depending on how the ore was originally deposited. ocean deposits are naturally enriched with more uranium, so they are hotter, while deposits formed on land are milder.
]]>@Julie Ann Fan: I guess the builders are off the hook since they probably had the home buyers sign for manditory binding arbitration clauses...
]]>personal example: could only afford KMart 3mos til fall apart flats for work for years. had to as it took YEARS to save up for a pair - yes 1 pair - of good work flats.
]]>Radium. RTFA.
]]>NOT radioactivity.
]]>@mythago: When did I say it wasn't? Or are you deliberately trying to misconstrue my meanings?
]]>Many construction companies will perform all sorts of shortcuts vs. specifications in order to maximize their profits. It's unethical alright ... and sadly, the American way.
]]>I think this quote from Terry Pratchett is relevant...
The reason the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in the city on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
Have a friend with a newer condo in Florida who had Chinese drywall. He said they noticed a rotten egg smell shortly after taking possession Fortunity for him the builder took care of replacing it. It seems only two out of about one hundred condos had the Chinese drywall. The builder took responability as they are one of the few still building down there.
]]>Might have something to do with every time the govt trys to do something good the GOP steps up and says "and you want your government doing this?" Apparently when the question is pissing your money away, they can only say yes, but helpful things, protecting its people, dont even go there with them.
]]>Regarding the story I haven't sen any of this drywall in Canada yet, it's all Gyproc and made in Canada. This is probably just a large developer trying to save a few pennies by buying this cheap drywall. I think the chances of a small renovator using this stuff is small. As is usually the case its the large companies with the most money who are the most capable of using quality products which are the most likely to use sub standard cheap products.
]]>@Kogenta: You put up your glove and caught the line drive, while it went over his head.
]]>Cat litter and granite countertops also emit radiation, but as long as "they" see it's only drywall, it will go through.
]]>Some of the isurance companies we deal with have also sent us bulletins on this issue stating they will not cover repairs caused by this issue.
We had an issue similar to this a few years ago when supposedly household chemicals were causing evaporator coils to corrode and leak.
]]>If it was up to me, I'd tariff the crap out of any goods shipped to the U.S. by any company. I'll pay the extra 3 bucks for a T-shirt.
]]>@HiPwr: I think the point is that some US company had to buy and import these "quality" products first. China didn't just decide to start shipping drywall to the US for no reason. I don't know how much it costs to spot check shippments for dangerous items, but it's clearly cheaper to not and simply rely on the manufacturer's word.
]]>No blame the consumer BS from me, but we need to stop buying crap from china. I don't want a leather chair that was improperly tanned giving me rashes, a set of jumper cables that may or may not work at 3AM when 32 degrees when stranded, or a kitchen knife that will be thrown out when I'm dead because the plastic handle is cracked & cheap metal unable to hold an edge. Buy quality that lasts and never underestimate the ability of a product to fail or do harm. NEVER assume where something is made based on the Brand name as most companies today made items both at home & China with the quality being vastly different & for different price segments. For example, Woolrich is a great American company with great quality products, but do not confuse them with "Woolrich" items at Target: Target has purchased a license from Woolrich to use their name, then Target has stuff made in China without any input or standards from Woolrich and is crap that falls apart after a washing or two. Contact Woolrich & they run the other way after saying that they don't make that stuff & tell you to talk to Target, and Target Corporate thinks that items such as a Woolrich quilt should only last 3 months, 1 year if you get an exceptional exception. Target really is no better anymore than Wal Mart when it comes to quality, they use to be a step-up.
]]>Toxic pthalates have apparently been an ingredient in every single plastic toy I've ever chewed on since 1967.
Who on planet Earth doesn't know that kids put stuff in their mouths?
And Super Elastic Bubble Plastic...I think I swallowed at least a gram of that crap when my neighbor slapped me on the back.
I mean, nobody is that negligent...right?
Right???
]]>Are the whole houses basically a loss now?
]]>I guess, it's "racist xenophobic" to hate on Rod Blagojevich too.
]]>@P_Smith: This may be news to you, but China is a Communist country.
]]>This reminds me of the urea-formaldehyde foam insulation scandal of the 1970s, and the asbestos insulation scandal of the 1980s. If you thought government regulation was lacking and lax then, you're in for a hell of a ride.
The motto of big business seems to be, "If you don't put profit above people's lives, you're not a capitalist."
]]>@bohemian: I agree. If I were importing products from China, I would have them completely disected and analyzed in labratories before putting them on the market.
]]>@Ryfael: I want the current agencies to do their jobs.
]]>Exacerbating the problem, since the housing market has gone bust, the builders of newer houses that are likely to have funky Chinese drywall have probably gone bankrupt and so can't be held liable.
]]>@TechnoDestructo: All well and good, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese government knew about this and took bribes to let it happen. They profit and they get to shift blame onto the "expendable population".
]]>The problem is ours for letting unknown products into our supposedly regulated and safe markets. Though there are tons of domestic made products that are killing people. Our system isn't safe, it is our own damn fault. Fund and demand regulatory agencies get back to doing their jobs.
BTW, this mess is yet another legacy of the GWB small govt. fiasco.
]]>@JTK: Ah, the race card. So quickly played by the intellectually bankrupt.
It is undeniable that there has been an uptick in harmful ingrediants in products imported from China. Not all imports; but more than any other country and more than we produce domestically.
They put the date-rape drug in a children's toy, for Pete's sake!
]]>@I Love New Jersey: More government is always the answer.
]]>@TechnoDestructo: It was obvious to me. They've done that very same thing before.
]]>Not everything exported and made in China is toxic just as there are plenty of US made products that have hurt people. Making comments like that just shows ignorance since for better or for worse China can make products cheaper than we can so it no longer makes sense to manufacture many things here.
]]>I thought it was obvious I was talking about China.
]]>Whatever happened to that equipment that was supposed to detect radioactive cargo at ports? Would this stuff be detectable? LA times says it contains radium, wiki says that's alpha, beta, AND gamma. If anything should be detectable, this stuff should.
]]>Doesn't matter...as long as a head rolls, they can pretend everything is fine.
]]>Not to suggest that this is the optimal solution, just that it's probably how they're going to handle it.
]]>