TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- Florida health officials say they are getting more complaints from residents who suspect the drywall in their homes is giving off dangerous fumes.
The Florida Department of Health told CNN it had more than 140 homeowner complaints about foul-smelling drywall that not only could be making them sick but is allegedly causing problems with their electrical wiring and plumbing.
"The breadth of this thing is a lot bigger than people think," said Jordan Chaikin, an attorney representing homeowners in a class-action lawsuit against the Chinese companies that produced the building materials.
The drywall in question was imported from China a few years ago when the combination of the construction boom and wide-spread hurricane repairs caused a drywall shortage in Florida.
Complaints generally involve headaches and sore throats that kick in when the humidity is high, CNN said. Some people also claim the sulfur-smelling fumes corrode copper pipes and wires.
The manufacturers of the drywall and their U.S. distributors said they had a toxicologist run some tests that revealed the drywall caused no ill health effects, CNN said.
