Detection Technology
Reports of central nervous system disorders, headaches, nosebleeds and other possibly serious health issues have been reported from those exposed to contaminated drywall. Surface corrosion of metal objects, including HVAC coils, jewelry, decorative fixtures and electrical wires have resulted in both cosmetic and mechanical damage. These damages have included the failure of HVAC systems, personal electronic equipment, and electrical short circuits.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), supporting the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been conducting studies and analyzing samples of the tainted drywall. The EPA analysis of the tainted Chinese drywall has showed that elemental differences were identifiable in the contaminated Chinese drywall when compared to the US drywall. The technology they utilized was an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer.
The XRF analyzer has been utilized for home inspection for years as well as elemental analysis of minerals. The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also uses XRF for the screening of lead (Pb) in paint.
The XRF allows for testing without destructive testing of the drywall. In addition, the drywall sheet-by-sheet data readings are in a tamperproof format for forensic evidentiary testing purposes.
“The Environmental Health & Engineering study also found that by using hand-held x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) instruments, they were able to detect markers that could identify contaminated Chinese-made dry wall at a sheet-by-sheet level.”
-- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission – Press release 11/23/2009
XRF drywall testing bombards the drywall sample with X-Rays and measuring the effects. Because each element produces a unique energy reading, this allows for the identification of various compounds in the drywall sample. Particular to toxic drywall the XRF is used to identify strontium, which the Consumer Product Safety Commission has claimed is the identifying marker of the Chinese toxic drywall.