Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has sent a letter to the President calling for the resignation of the current head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and criticizing the agency for its response to reports of Chinese-made tainted drywall installed in U.S. homes.

In a letter addressed to President Obama earlier this month, the senator targeted the CPSC for failing to do enough, in his view, to halt the import of the drywall. Readers will recall that residents claim this product emits a sulfur smell, poses health risks, and also causes electrical problems.

Nelson asserted that the “agency is doing too little, too late to help residents of Florida and other states who are reporting serious health and safety problems associated with living in homes built with tainted drywall imported from China.”  The CPSC reports that it has launched a formal compliance investigation to determine any risk associated with the sulfur-based gases that may be emitted from the imported drywall

Nelson is also a sponsor of the Drywall Safety Act of 2009, which seeks to impose a recall and a temporary ban on imports until federal drywall safety standards are put in place to protect consumers. The legislation also calls for the CPSC to perform a study with the EPA to determine the level of risk posed by the substances in the drywall.

Products litigation has ensued, including a proposed class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. According to that suit, a shortage of drywall made in the U.S. caused many builders to use imported Chinese drywall during Florida’s pre-recession construction boom earlier this decade. There has also been speculation that some of that drywall may have been kept at sea waiting to enter U.S. ports, and was thus exposed to excessive moisture/humidity that caused the alleged fume problems. Such claims are typically inappropriate for class certification because of the individual issues that will be presented by evidence surrounding injury and causation. And at least one U.S. home builder has sued more than two dozen manufacturers, suppliers and installers of drywall imported from China.