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So Why Does Chinese Drywall Smell?

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So Why Does Chinese Drywall Smell? SoSo WhyWhy DoesDoes ChineseChinese DrywallDrywall Smell?Smell? By Gary Rosen, Ph.D. www.Chinese-Drywall.org 1-04-2010 Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. 1 ChineseChinese DrywallDrywall DoesDoes NOTNOT SmellSmell LikeLike RottenRotten EggsEggs Measured levels of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) in homes according to the US CPSC are very low – only a few parts per billion. This is below, or at most, at the lower limit of what can be detected by the human nose so it is not contributing, or is not contributing much, to the Chinese Drywall smell. And besides, H2S smells like rotten eggs which is NOT what Chinese drywall homes smell like. So what gases coming from Chinese drywall make homes smell the way they do if not H2S? Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 2 CPSCCPSC JulyJuly ReportReport On page 2 of the CPSC July 2009 Chinese Drywall report they reference an academic research paper that studied Chinese drywall off-gassing. This research, done by German scientists, was paid for by Knauf Germany for the stated purpose of understanding where the odors in the Knauf Tianjin drywall came from (either manufacturing or raw mined material) so as to avoid such problem odors in the future. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 3 GermanGerman ResearchResearch PaperPaper A. Burdack-Freitag et al. Institute for Building Physics, Valley, Germany. Identification of Odor-Active Organic Sulfur Compounds in Gypsum Products Published in the Wiley InterScience Journal Clean 2009, 37 (6), 459–465 Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 4 KnaufKnauf TianjinTianjin Knauf Germany in 2006 hired German researchers to find out what was causing the Knauf Tianjin drywall to smell. According to the CPSC, the samples used in the German research study were identified as coming from the LuNeng mine in Shandong the location of the LuNeng gypsum mine is located on the East ShanDong China. Coast of China just South of the Tianjin province where Knauf Tianjin In 2009 the results of the is located research were published. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 5 PagePage 22 CPSCCPSC ReportReport 77--99--0909 According to the CPSC, Knauf Tianjin drywall appears to be the most prevalent problem Chinese drywall found in US homes. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 6 PresentationPresentation OverviewOverview In this presentation we will review the German research study as to why Chinese drywall smells the way it does. This study has important implications as to: – Understanding the source of Chinese drywall odor and why it can vary from production run to production run. – Methods for testing Chinese drywall. – As well as health impact of Chinese drywall. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 7 GypsumGypsum FormationFormation This, peer reviewed, scientific paper starts out by describing how Natural Gypsum is formed. Natural Gypsum deposits are mainly formed by precipitation of minerals as a result of seawater evaporation in various geological eras when the Earth's surface was dominated by water and marine animals. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 8 GypsumGypsum MaterialMaterial NotNot UniformUniform The paper then explains that as a result of how the gypsum deposits are formed the composition of gypsum will differ from location to location. According to the report: Typical natural gypsum constituents are lime, marl, clay, bitumen, carbon, pure sulfur or mineral salts and degraded dead marine organisms. The degradation of marine organisms plus the formative conditions results in the gypsum containing numerous organic compounds. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 9 OdorOdor InvestigationInvestigation The goal of the German scientists was to characterize smelly gases beyond the known gases (such as the inorganic sulfur gases H2S and CS2) which meant looking for sulfur containing organic gases. Such sulfur-containing organic gases, as a class of gases, are known to be especially smelly and have a detectable odor at very low concentrations making them difficult to measure. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 10 QuantifyingQuantifying ReleasedReleased GasesGases The German study was based on quantifying the release of organic sulfur gases under laboratory conditions. They were not taking air samples from homes. On the right is shown the “headspace” gas measurement equipment the Germans used to measure the quantity of gas emitted from pieces of gypsum in the lab. The CPSC calls such studies “chamber” studies. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 11 OdorOdor LevelsLevels ofof ReleasedReleased GasesGases Once the amounts of the released gases were measured, odor levels of these gases were then measured using a technique developed by food and perfume chemists. On the right is a diagram of the method used to measure the odor levels. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 12 AA ChallengingChallenging TaskTask Highly odorous gases (malodorous gases) can be released by problem drywall at very low levels yet still have a perceptible smell to the human nose. Measuring these very low level gases can be a challenge as often the gases are closely related to one another and difficult to distinguish under typical lab testing environments. It helps when attempting to measure low levels of such gases if you already know what to look for. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 13 MeasuringMeasuring OdorousOdorous GasesGases fromfrom RawRaw MaterialMaterial For this study the German researchers obtained – in their words “disgusting-smelling semi- processed raw material” from the LuNeng mine in China from which the Knauf Tianjin drywall was made. Because the raw gypsum released high levels of smelly gases, it was easier for these scientists to determine the types of gases released than from the processed materials. Trucks taking Chinese drywall to the Once they knew what to look for, they were able to more easily docks for shipment to the U.S. measure the much lower levels of odorous gases released by the actual Knauf Tianjin drywall. Pretty smart! Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 14 GermanGerman LabLab StudyStudy ResultsResults While the drywall released many organic gases, the researchers were focusing on especially smelly gases which means sulfur containing organic gases. They were able to the identify 8 odor-active sulfur containing organic compounds released by the drywall and also found in high concentrations in the original mined materials. This was in addition to the Chinese ship being loaded with smelly inorganic H2S and drywall for shipment to the U.S. CS2 gases that were already known to be present. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 15 GermanGerman LabLab StudyStudy ResultsResults The eight sulfur-containing organic compounds contributing to the off-odor of Chinese drywall were identified as: 2-(ethylthio)-propane, methyl ethyl disulfide, butyl ethyl sulfide, ethyl isopropyl disulfide, diisopropyl disulfide, isobutyl isopropyl disulfide, diethylthiophene, and ethyl isopentyl disulfide Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 16 ImplicationsImplications forfor OccupantOccupant HealthHealth These results from the German lab studies have important implications. – Why – because these organic compounds have high odor levels but are not corrosive nor irritating (at least to the same degree as the inorganic gases H2S and CS2.) These malodorous yet non-irritating gases may account for the reason why some homes with Chinese drywall smell but do not irritate occupants. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 17 PotentialPotential ProblemsProblems fromfrom LabLab StudiesStudies There are several potential problems with lab studies of drywall: – Results differ from lab to lab because procedures and equipment differ. – In lab testing, the temperature and humidity are typically set high which increases the rate of off-gassing so that drywall can then be checked quickly and inexpensively for emitted gases. – Given enough temperature and humidity, off- gassing is measurable from ALL drywall (even top quality US drywall) to some extent. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 18 PotentialPotential ProblemsProblems fromfrom LabLab StudiesStudies The Nov 20, 2009 CPSC 51 Home Study page 120 found that there is limited correlation between lab (chamber) testing and in-home testing. According to the study, the types of gases found and the levels of these gases found when pieces of Chinese drywall were tested under lab conditions do not resemble the types and quantity of gases found inside of homes. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 19 WRONGWRONG InterpretationsInterpretations fromfrom LabLab StudiesStudies Even though a certain brand of drywall does not smell, does not corrode copper and does not damage the AC coils, some inexperienced environmental consultants are claiming it is defective because testing under lab conditions finds some off gassing. All drywall off-gasses to some extent under such conditions. Note that the State of Florida DOH guidelines do not recognize drywall meeting these criteria as defective. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 20 LabLab StudiesStudies vs.vs. AirAir SamplingSampling SummarySummary && ConclusionsConclusions Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 21 LabLabLabLab StudiesStudies StudiesStudies vs.vs. ≠≠ AirAirRealReal SamplingSampling WorldWorld So what do all these lab tests actually tell us about the real world? From a certain perspective they may mean nothing because lab studies (also called Chamber testing or Headspace testing) in no way measure the levels of such gases found inside Example of stainless steel homes. container used for air sampling.. To measure the levels of emitted gases inside a home or office one must perform air sampling. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Page 22 GypsumGypsum CompositionComposition VariesVaries As a result of how the gypsum deposits are formed, the composition of gypsum will differ from location to location. It can be assumed based on the differences in mine composition that problem drywall may differ from batch to batch with some runs more problematic than others. And some runs most likely will not be so problematic or perhaps not at all problematic. Copyright© 2010 Gary Rosen, Ph.D.
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