Toxic Chinese Drywall: It Stinks in More Ways Than One

Toxic Chinese Drywall: It Stinks in More Ways Than One
February 12, 2009. By Gordon Gibb

Legal Advice

Fort Meyers, FL: You've got to be kidding. Drywall, now. Chinese drywall, that was used during the South Florida building boom starting in 2004 and is now making some people sick. Toxic drywall has been found in many homes, and Chinese drywall problems are affecting copper plumbing and air conditioning coils.

Toxic DrywallToothpaste, pet food, toys, tires, infant formula, heparin, and now drywall. When is all this going to end? Can anyone trust anything that is coming from the great, emerging economy in China?

At issue is drywall that was purchased and used in some homes during the boom building years of 2004 and 2005—especially in places like South Florida. When drywall became hard to come by, apparently some was procured and imported from China.

Drywall is drywall, right? How can you go wrong with drywall?

The problem is what it's made with. And Dave Reid, who represents Intuitive Environmental Solutions of Fort Meyers, Florida, has concluded that at least some of the drywall imported from China was manufactured with waste materials from scrubbers on coal-fired power plants. It has been reported that while Chinese drywall meets ASTM standards, the suspicion is that the water used to mix the gypsum was wastewater that contained chemicals, including sulfur.

The chemicals have been found to leech out of the drywall and is not only a hazard to a homeowner's health, it can also play havoc with plumbing—and in South Florida, given the propensity and need for air conditioning, there is a lot of plumbing. The chemicals imbedded in the toxic Chinese drywall leech out as gasses and combine with the moisture on air conditioning coils to create sulphuric acid.

The acid in turn is suspected of weakening, and dissolving solder joints and copper tubing. The result is water leakage, the blackening of copper coils, and ultimately the failure of the system.

Not to mention the smell. Karen Kuenz is a retiree living in a house at The Legends, a subdivision located in south Lee County. She has smelled sulfur in, and around her home "for years," and while the contractor has made various attempts to locate and deal with the problem, it has never been eradicated entirely. There's still one room in her home where the "stinky sulfur is just nasty."

It's not just the smell. Kuenz has experienced coughing, and other ailments, but she could never explain it until now. The suspect now, is the drywall.

Richard Cesta is another homeowner in Lee County, Florida who has had to put up with the smell of sulfur in his condo. His air conditioning coils keep turning black, and he's had to replace them three times within just months. That kind of thing can get costly, running into the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

While drywall that smells like rotten eggs has only come to light in the past few months, it apparently is not a new problem. It has been reported that builders have been quietly settling complaints for the past 3 years.

That timeline fits in with the building boom that was prevalent in the overheated South Florida real estate market of 2004 and 2005, and into 2006. Drywall is normally sourced from US manufacturers, but a drywall shortage apparently left many installers scrambling to find alternative sources, including drywall from China. In some homes the toxic Chinese drywall was used exclusively, while in others it was mixed with drywall produced in the US.

So far, the problem appears to be isolated to South Florida and, in particular, Lee County. One prominent builder, Lennar Homes, has launched an action against the German-based Knauf Group, and its subsidiary Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. of China. Taishan Gypsum, another drywall manufacturer based in China, has also been implicated.

Lennar is also pursuing a collection of 12 subcontractors for installing substandard Chinese drywall in Lennar homes, allegedly without Lennar's knowledge.

The aforementioned builder has conducted various tests on its homes in South Florida through Environ International, and has found 3 sulfide gasses: carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide and dimethyl sulfide. It has been reported that the more dangerous hydrogen sulfide, which gives off a rotten-egg-like odor, was not found by Environ in air tests, but had been found previously in tests of the toxic Chinese drywall itself.

The Florida Health Department is conducting tests, and results should be known in March. Ironically, the Lieutenant Governor for the state of Florida has reportedly revealed that his home, located in Fort Meyers, was constructed with toxic Chinese drywall.

Some have made the point that after drywall is taped, sanded and sealed, the problem in theory should be mitigated. However, as countless South Florida homeowners have discovered, either the drywall has not been properly and consistently sealed—or the trapped chemicals within are too potent for the sealer, and paint to contain.

A class-action lawsuit was filed late last month in US District court in Fort Meyers.

If you are among the countless residents of newer homes in South Florida who have encountered health problems, or strange odors in your home resulting from the use of Chinese drywall, consult an attorney. You should not be made to put up with toxic drywall, and Chinese drywall problems only serve to heighten serious economic problems already prevalent in South Florida. Property values are dropping as it is. You don’t need to be chased from your home by a bad smell that is not of your doing.

Chinese Drywall Legal Help
If you have suffered losses in this case, please send your complaint to a lawyer who will review your possible [Chinese Drywall Lawsuit] at no cost or obligation.

有機酵素及醋的保健喝法

有機酵素及醋的保健喝法

Health Food Vitamins

有 機 << 酵 素 >> 保 健 喝 法 :

早、晚空腹各30cc 加冷開水稀釋成150cc，
酵素空腹吸收較好，飯前喝不會傷腸胃的!

有 機 << 醋 >> 保 健 喝 法 :

早、晚各30cc 飯後一小時喝，加冷開水
稀釋5~10倍，不曾喝醋的人先稀釋10倍
以上，一段時間以後~就能接受醋的酸度。

酵素及醋禁忌碰觸滴到半點水滴，開封後
應儘速喝完。如有怕醋的酸味可加點蜂蜜
，風味更佳!

新生兒則不可餵食蜂蜜，

醋~要稀釋的很淡很淡才行~切記~切記!

剛開始喝醋及酵素會有好轉反應，每個人
的體質不同，反應也不一樣!

例如:會拉肚子、耳屎一直增加、筋骨酸痛......等
以前不舒服的地方，會顯現出來，像生病
一樣，一段時間以後，會慢慢消失，精神
體力更好!! 醋及酵素~可以解化學農藥及
本身無法排除的毒素~是救命的堅持理念!

談喝醋的優點

談喝醋的優點

Health Food Vitamins

或許您對醋有敬而遠之的經驗或喝完後會胃痛不舒服，但是當您喝過訊息酵素醋後，將會對醋有不同以往的感受，有人說精神變好、腸胃疏通了、不會特意想吃東西，有人發覺肚子會餓了，也有人覺察變強。由於大家樂意的分享，讓我也好奇地開始翻閱找尋有關醋的相關報導…

醋的緣起

早在幾千年前杜康父子因釀酒過程發現醋，流傳至今。釀造的方式也分為許多種，而酵素訊息醋是屬於天然釀造醋，以有機米、有機水果等做為釀醋的原料，再經自然發酵半年以上，這樣長時間的醞釀使原料中的成分被萃取出來，保留其營養素及原有的風味，喝醋時就會有種神輕氣爽的感覺。

醋含有天然酵素

人體中有超過10兆個細胞，每個細胞的營養、消化代謝過程都需要酵素。若身體缺乏足夠的酵素，就會像一個電燈泡亮不起來，就如有人吃完飯後，會有胃脹、頭昏之感，或吃了多種營養品體力仍然沒改善，其中的原因是缺乏酵素，體內無法消化這些食物。

只要有適當的酵素補充，酵素就像電流，讓電燈泡通電亮起來，所以酵素在人體中所扮演的角色非常重要。我們所需要的消化酵素，部分必須從生食食物而來且占75%，但食物多需經高溫烹調（高於48℃）或再加工過程，其部分營養素與酵素會被破壞，所以不易獲得。

醋的釀造不經高溫或過度加工，可保留完整的營養素與活性酵素，幫助胃腸消化與吸收，讓體內營養素好吸收，加速人體新陳代謝。所以當你喝醋後會發現每個細胞被滿足，腸胃消化也有改善，不易飽脹或昏沉，身體整體能量就會提昇了。

醋為鹼性食物

只要是天然釀造不含冰醋酸的醋都是鹼性食物（還有水果、蔬菜、牛奶、部分堅果等），也許您會覺得很奇怪，醋明明很酸為何是鹼性食物呢？因為醋含有有機酸，包括乳酸、蘋果酸、檸檬酸、琥珀酸等，入人體被吸收經身體代謝留下的礦物質（灰份）鉀、鈉、鈣、鎂等，會讓尿液呈鹼性。反而我們常吃的動物性食物、精緻甜食、澱粉穀類、油類及油炸食物、部分豆類及堅果類包括花生、腰果等，因其中硫、磷等礦物質經過身體代謝作用，會讓尿液呈酸性，屬酸性食物。

正常情況下，健康的人體血液呈弱鹼性（約為pH 7.35-7.45），酸鹼平衡可由呼吸系統-肺與代謝系統-腎臟調控，不過若吃太多酸性食物、工作壓力大、過度疲勞與情緒失調的人，身體及血液的酸鹼值會從弱鹼轉微弱酸，體內的廢物及毒素不能迅速排出體外，易堆積在關節造成酸痛，或沉積在皮膚黏膜，有溼疹、青春痘等症狀，

久而久之易衍生各種疾病。因此健康的飲食方式建議攝取70%鹼性食物及30%酸性食物，醋即為一個非常好的鹼性食物來源，尤其常大魚大肉不健康均衡飲食的人非常適合。

醋可增加飽食感

2005年一篇歐洲臨床營養期刊研究，喝醋可減少飯後血糖與胰島素分泌，並且較有飽食感，這可能是因醋酸等有機酸的作用。1998年另一篇研究也有相同的結果，醋可延緩胃排空速度，減少飢餓感。所以，坊間就有許多人使用醋來減肥，但應小心有些醋含糖量過高，是達不到效果的，當然還要適當飲食控制才有效！

疲憊時可飲用一杯醋

醋含有檸檬酸、醋酸等有機酸，疲勞、運動後飲用醋，可以將堆積的乳酸分解成二氧化碳和水，讓疲勞消除、減輕肩膀、肌肉酸痛。

選擇有機酵素訊息醋的原因

其實醋的妙用仍有許多，包括烹調、養身、美容、泡澡等等，然而選擇品質較好的醋才能達到事半功倍的效果。

天然有機酵素訊息醋，可除去農藥的殘留疑慮，有機栽種也可保留食物較完整的營養素，再者經由光的訊息轉化改善醋的氣味與口感，變得順暢潤喉，讓「食物頻率與身體細胞頻率共振協調」。當醋的作用提昇，有效精準進入細胞，延長酵素在體內細胞停留時間，維持活性，供給營養；另一方面讓氧化作用、新陳代謝更順暢，改善身心健康。