Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., has introduced a bill to temporarily ban drywall with high levels of organic compounds. The bill H.R. 1977 would also commission a study on imported Chinese drywall. Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., introduced the Senate version of the legislation, the Drywall Safety Act of 2009, recently in the U.S. Senate.

Some U.S. residents have complained that the imported Chinese drywall installed in their homes emits a sulfur smell and causes electrical problems. As posted on before, such drywall is now the subject of litigation, after the Florida Department of Health reported it can emit a sulfur smell when exposed to heat and moisture.

The House bill would require the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to create a standard to regulate the composition of drywall. It would also require the commission to work with the National Institute for Standards and Technology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study drywall imported from China between 2004 and 2007, and used in U.S. homes. If the bills are passed, such a study on Chinese drywall could be significant in the lawsuits.  The CPSC said in February it had begun an investigation of complaints about Chinese drywall, focusing on whether the sulfur-based gases emitted from the drywall are corroding household wiring and posing a potential safety hazard in that respect.

Between 60,000 and 100,000 homes across the nation contain tainted drywall, the two sponsoring senators have said. About 36,000 homes in Florida are thought to contain Chinese-made drywall.  According to the allegations of the litigation, a shortage of drywall made in the U.S. caused many builders to use imported Chinese drywall during Florida’s construction boom between 2004 and 2006. Much of the drywall was used in construction after Hurricane Katrina. There is speculation that some of that drywall may have been kept at sea for months waiting to enter the U.S., at which point it may have been exposed to humidity that allegedly caused the fume problems.