The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission was not able to collect sufficient evidence proving that faulty drywall is a dangerous product capable of inflicting homeowners with illness or other ailments. The organization will therefore not ask the manufacturers to recall the products.
Many homeowners in New Jersey and throughout the United States have suggested that faulty drywall installed in their homes was responsible for certain ailments. These ailments caused by this defective product included nosebleeds and respiratory problems. In addition, some linked the drywall to the death of pets. The roughly 4,000 complaints started to roll in nationwide as early as 2000.
After studying the level of toxic chemicals put forth by the drywall, the SCPSC said the levels were too low to draw a line from the drywall to the ailments that many families have suffered from. An ombudsman with the committee admitted that there still could be a connection, but the SCPSC was unable to produce any hard evidence that would back it up. A member of the National Center for Environmental Health with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoed the SCPSC’s sentiments.
Much of the drywall that is being targeted by homeowners was produced in China and was used in homes that were constructed after 2005. However, other homeowners have accused U.S. companies of producing toxic drywall as well.
Some homeowners initially detected the defective drywall from a sulfur-like scent. Some have seen the problem spiral so far out of control that their homes are now considered inhabitable.
If you or a family member has suffered an illness or an injury from defective drywall, please contact Breslin & Breslin for a free consultation.
Source: Florida Today, “Drywall link to illness hard to prove,” Ledyard King, Dec. 7, 2011
