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GYPSUM ASSOCIATIONCHINESE WALLBOARD ISSUEcomments on

imported

The exact cause or causes forthese problems is under investi-gation by governmental agenciesincluding the National Instituteof Science and Technology(NIST), and the ConsumerProduct Safety Commission(CPSC), as well as various stateagencies.

The wallboard in question wasapparently imported from China

between 2005and 2007 whenthe U.S. hous-ing boom wasat its peak anddomestic pro-ducers couldnot keep upwith wallboarddemand.

During thisperiod, approxi-

mately 320 million square feet ofwallboard was imported fromChina, less than one-half of onepercent of the wallboard sold inNorth America. Most of theimported Chinese wallboard wasused in the Gulf and Atlantic coastregions of Texas, Louisiana,Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

Homeowners concerned aboutthe origin of the wallboard usedin their homes should contact theirbuilder or supplier. Homeownersand prospective home buyers canbe assured the gypsum board pro-duced by members of the GypsumAssociation (www.gypsum.org)is manufactured to the highestpossible quality standards.

By code, all gypsum board usedin the U.S. must meet the inter-nationally recognized consensusstandard, ASTM C1396,

Some wallboard imported from China is reportedly

off-gassing unpleasant, “rotten egg” odors, and the

substance causing the odors is apparently corroding

electrical wiring, evaporator coils and other metals.

Standard Specification forGypsum Board. This standardrequires each gypsum panel orpackage to have legibly markedon it: the thickness, the name ofthe producer or supplier, thebrand name, if any, and theASTM specification for the prod-

uct. Wallboard manufactured inthe U.S. and Canada typically ismarked on the bundling (end) tapethat binds two sheets of board intoa single shipping unit.

All gypsum wallboard made inthe United States and Canada ismanufactured by members of theGypsum Association. To maintainindustry-wide, quality-assurancestandards, all members of theGypsum Association subscribe to

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M a y 7 , 2 0 0 9Board

an ongoing third-party, in-plantproduct inspection and labelingservice. This independent certifi-cation and labeling processensures the highest level of con-sistency, quality and performance.

Gypsum Association membersuse both natural gypsum ore andbyproduct (synthetic) gypsum tomanufacture their products.All natural gypsum ore used byAssociation members is mined orquarried solely in North America.

Byproduct gypsum is primarilyproduced when coal-fired powerplants clean their emissions.Stack emissions are fed througha limestone slurry in a processthat yields calcium sulfate, thechemical name for gypsum.Byproduct gypsum is chemicallyidentical to natural gypsum ore.All byproduct gypsum used in themanufacture of North American-

made gypsum products is acquiredfrom domestic sources.

The properties of both naturaland byproduct gypsum are care-fully controlled to ensure thatonly the highest quality materialsare used in the manufacture ofdomestically-made gypsum products.

Fly ash, a residue created bythe burning of coal, cannot beused as a substitute for gypsumas it has a different chemical com-position than gypsum. Members ofthe Gypsum Association do notuse fly ash as a substitute forgypsum in manufacturing gypsumwallboard.

In 2007 U.S. gypsum wallboardmanufacturers used approximately8.3 million short tons of byproductgypsum, accounting for approxi-mately 28 percent of all the gyp-sum used by members of theGypsum Association that year.

Gypsum wallboard provides fireresistance, ease of maintenanceand decoration, and is anextremely versatile and envi-ronmentally-friendly buildingmaterial. Domestically-producedgypsum wallboard has been usedsuccessfully in the constructionof homes and buildings in NorthAmerica for over 100 years withan excellent performance record.Homeowners and prospectivehome buyers should have noreservations about havinggypsum wallboard manufacturedby members of the GypsumAssociation used in the construc-tion of their homes.

Gypsum Association Members2009

American Gypsum Company LLC CertainTeed Gypsum, Inc.CertainTeed Gypsum Canada, Inc. CGC Inc.Georgia-Pacific Gypsum LLCLafarge North America, Inc.National Gypsum CompanyPabco Gypsum (a division of

PABCO building products, LLC)Temple-InlandUnited States Gypsum Company