Contaminated Plasterboard
Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a Chinese sister company of Knauf Germany have been found guilty of being responsible for the supply of contaminated plasterboard which is estimated to have been used in thousands of USA homes and buildings since 2005. The contamination is in the form of high levels of strontium and hydrdrogen sulphide which creates sulphuric acid when exposed to humidity in the home.
A court case in Miami Florida in June 2010 resulted in one homeowners affected by the plasterboard toxins and contaminates being awarded $2.5 million dollars.The award was against Knauf Chinese manufaturer but Knauf Germany was found to be 35% responsible with their supplier "Banner Supply Co" being held 10% responsible. (link to court judgement) (2nd Link)
This court case is a very important milestone because it now sets precedence for the thousands of property owners said to be fighting for compensation backed incidently, by Federal Government against manufacturers and suppliers.
The contamination causes bad egg or nasty odours, serious health problems to occupants and very premature failure of copper pipes, IT systems and electronics, and HVAC systems.
The contamination problems have been known about since 2006 proven when the court published a secretly made a $557,000 agreement between Knauf with their distributor "Banner Supply Co" to cover up the issues.
(see News Link)Building Forensics must make it clear we do not know if corrosive and contaminated plasterboard has been imported from any manufacturer or supplier in China into the EU or UK. Due to growing press and general awareness about building odours there may be cause for some concern. How many HVAC, plumbing and electrical contractors have replaced FOC faulty equipment needlesly?
How many absenteeism events or health issues could have been avoided?
Could the Chinese have sent a ship loads of”Bargain Plasterboard” to UK and Europe after their USA market disappeared? If your building has odour or corrosion problems, China and your supplier may be responsible.There is only one way to find out, and that is a series of scientific tests which Building Forensics can economically provide.
How to identify contaminated plasterboard
Building forensics can in association with leading laboratories provide accurate identification of contaminated plasterboard (gyprock) using gas chromatography and (SEM) scanning electron microscopy with Energy Dispersive X Ray Spectrometer (EDS).
The air and surface samples are collected and analysed for the key marker components of Carbon disulfide and Carbonyl sulfide. The cost is usually around £1000 but can result in subrogation and identification of sick buildings or high maintenace and intermittent fault or corrosion issues.
Our investigation and analysis is available world wide.
A short power point describing all currently known facts is available here.
SEE FREE VIDEO (This may take a moment to download.)