The federal government no longer considers the presence of strontium to be a reliable indicator of <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/Defective_Chinese_Drywall">corrosive Chinese drywall. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), a high level of elemental sulfur appears to be a better indication that the defective wallboard is in a home.
The CPSC just recently revised its guidelines for identifying homes with defective Chinese drywall. The agency said the Federal Interagency Task Force that has been investigating the matter no longer believes strontium has a causative role in the problems associated with Chinese drywall, so it has been removed from the identification guidelines.
However, the Task Force still believes that screening for strontium may be a cost-effective and efficient manner in which to PRELIMINARILY identify areas of a home possibly affected by problem drywall for further testing. However, identification of strontium does not necessarily indicate the presence of problem drywall, rather only that additional testing in those areas may be advised.
The Task Force still believes elemental (orthorhombic) sulfur to be the marker most directly correlated with the reports of problem drywall in a home. Although the results of such testing are not as quickly available as the strontium screening, testing for elemental sulfur is commercially available and is a more accurate method which provides greater assurances to interested parties, the CPSC said.
Since late 2008, the CPSC has received more than 3,500 reports from residents in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico regarding defective Chinese drywall. Gases emitted from Chinese drywall are being blamed for significant property damage, including damage to HVAC systems, smoke detectors, electrical wiring, metal plumbing components, and other household appliances.
The CPSC says the only way to remediate defective Chinese drywall is to remove both the wallboard and the electrical wiring and other components from affected homes.
