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Last month, the U.S. Computer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released
a report which concluded that drywall made in China and installed in American
homes does not present a long-term safety hazard to wiring and other electrical
components. The report, written by
the Division of Electrical Engineering in the
CPSC's Directorate for Engineering Sciences, analyzed the extent of corrosion
caused by chemical emissions, and incorporated research from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
In April 2009, the CPSC asked SNL to determine whether Chinese-made
drywall produced corroding gases that could cause ultimately cause smoke and
fire in residential electrical systems. SNL's preliminary analysis
concluded that although copper-sulfide corrosion was present on metal
surfaces, the corrosion layer was relatively thin. For its part, LBNL examined
chemical emissions from 30 drywall samples and concluded that although the
highest-concentration gas was H2S, many other reactive sulfur gases were
present in samples with high emissions. The top 10 reactive sulfur-emitting drywall samples were from
China.
In its latest study, the CPSC concludes that "Sandia staff did not observe any
acute or long-term safety events, such as smoking or fire, during the course of
the experiment," which simulated a 40-year period. "Accordingly, it is the belief of CPSC staff and Sandia that
even simulated long-term exposure of wiring and other electrical components to
hydrogen sulfide gases does not indicate a safety hazard to the home's
electrical systems."
Are you satisfied
with the CPSC's conclusion? The complete study is available via the link below.
Source: CPCS
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Re: Chinese Drywall and Electrical Component Corrosion
