drywall/ DRY WALL, Quotation / Pictures of the Day, uninhabitable.Russia has resolved to make Kharkiv a “grey zone”, uninhabitable for civilians. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, told us in an interview that his city has no intention of giving up

 

Military sources in Kyiv suggest that Russia has resolved to make Kharkiv a “grey zone”, uninhabitable for civilians. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, told us in an interview that his city has no intention of giving up https://econ.trib.al/WWGnShG

  Library book returned nearly 81 years past the due date after being found inside the dry wall of a house.

The Dam Boom in the Amazon

By CHARLES LYONS

Brazil’s plans for energy production are leading to a confrontation between energy and habitability.

 

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"Russians, we are like bears, we are so patient. But when our patience ends, then we begin to growl."


GALINE I. POKPOVA, a 76-year-old who voted for United Russia, the governing party, but warned that it needed to start showing results.

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Pictures of the Day

US safety chief says China helping on drywall
(AP) – 20 hours ago
BEIJING — China is helping American officials investigate reports of contaminated Chinese drywall after thousands of American homeowners complained the building material made them sick or damaged their houses, a top U.S. safety official said Monday.
Consumer Products Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said that her Chinese counterparts have provided technical help and are working with the U.S. to determine the cause of the problem.
"We are greatly appreciative," Tenenbaum said after finishing up six days of talks with officials from Beijing's product safety watchdog, the Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine. She didn't give specific details of the cooperation.
Tenenbaum also called on Chinese drywall companies "to examine carefully their responsibilities to U.S. consumers who are suffering from problems in their homes and to do what is fair and just in each case if their products are involved."
The costs to homeowners could be in the billions of dollars, according to some estimates, and homeowners have struggled to get help from insurers or relief from mortgage payments on homes that are in some cases uninhabitable.
American construction companies imported the drywall, also known as wallboard or gypsum board, at the height of the housing boom, when building materials were in short supply. The drywall apparently causes a chemical reaction that releases fumes that reek like rotten eggs and grow worse with heat and humidity.
U.S. homeowners blame the drywall for health woes such as itchy eyes and skin, difficulty breathing, persistent coughing and bloody noses as well as corrosion of electrical wiring and home appliances.
Tests of Chinese drywall by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have found sulfur and two organic compounds associated with acrylic paint — compounds not found in samples of American-made drywall. The EPA report did not draw any conclusions about health risks or whether the boards could be damaging wiring in homes.
Since late last year, the agency has received more than 1,300 complaints, with the majority from Florida and Louisiana. The drywall was imported primarily between 2004 and 2008 when home construction was booming and supplies tight. It has also been used in homes rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

habitable[hab・it・a・ble]

• 発音記号[hǽbitəbl]

[形]〈住居が〉住める, 住むのに適した.

hàb・it・a・bíl・i・ty, ・ness

[名]

hab・it・a・bly

[副]


dry wall .
Plasterboard.
A wall or ceiling constructed of a prefabricated material, such as plasterboard or paneling.
A wall constructed from rocks that are not cemented together.

drywall

IN BRIEF: n. - A wide flat board used to cover walls or partitions.

dry wall

（モルタルを用いない）石積み壁.石膏板是由石膏和軟礦物等成分壓縮在厚紙板之間製成的一種建築材料。
⇒dry

2009年 01月 12日 13:14

佛羅里達調查中國建材質量問題

乾牆

在

佛羅里達低迷的住房市場苦苦掙扎的一些建築商現在又面臨著一個新問題：在幾十套於房市繁榮期建造的房屋中﹐他們所採用的中國產乾牆散發出怪味﹐並有可能導致電路問題。

一批建築商和環境咨詢師正在調查幹牆是否有散發含硫氣體的情況﹐這種氣體有可能腐蝕屋裡的空調線圈、電腦連線和金屬像框等物品。幹牆也稱牆板或石膏板﹐是一種寬平板建材﹐用於製作房屋內牆。

一些房主現在擔心可能會發生呼吸道方面的問題﹐但佛羅里達州衛生署表示﹐相關測試顯示﹐含硫氣體的含量不會“立刻對健康造成威脅”。問題涉及的房主還擔心﹐即使房市復蘇﹐幹牆的問題將導致他們已經大幅縮水的房產價值進一步下降﹐並有損他們轉賣房產。

Getty Images

邁阿密的在建房屋

家住坦帕附近的史密斯(Marty Smith)說：我最大的擔心是我們將被這套房子纏住脫不了手。他房子裡的空調已多次出問題。建築商Lennar Corp.最近對這套房子裡的空氣和幹牆進行了測試﹐預計結果將在幾週後出來。

在有關幹牆的問題之前﹐已發生一系列與中國出口商品有關的質量安全問題﹐涉及玩具和寵物食品等多項產品。

業 務量在美國排名第二的Lennar已對至少50幢房屋進行了空氣質量檢測﹐並遷出了幾戶房主﹐以便拆除並替換幹牆﹐這是一道昂貴的工序。公司正在設法找到 儘量減少住戶干擾的辦法解決問題。Lennar還繼續對在位於佛羅里達的十多個項目進行測試﹐並將向州衛生部門通報測試結果。

Lennar佛羅里達州西南地區分部總裁麥克墨里(Darin McMurray)說﹐我們的首要擔心是我們的業主客戶。他說﹐公司將繼續為我們建造的房屋負責﹐並將與業主一起努力解決問題。

建築商以前通常都採用美國國內生產的、主要用石膏礦製作的幹牆。但2006年﹐供應商開始從中國進口幹墻。當時﹐美國住房市場一片繁榮﹐在卡特里娜颶風過後的重建熱潮中﹐建築商匆忙地到處搜羅建築材料。

出問題的幹牆有很多是在中國生產的。其中一家生產商是可耐福石膏板（天津）有限公司(Knauf Plasterboard, Tianjin Co.)﹐它是德國建築材料公司可耐福國際公司（Knauf International GmbH.）的子公司。

可耐福（天津）在聲明中說﹐2006年它曾聘請專家針對有關怪味的投訴進行調查﹐沒有發現跟牆板氣味或房屋內任何排放物有關的健康問題。

幹牆的問題目前似乎侷限於佛羅里達州南部地區﹐已有數十位房主就此投訴﹐而眼下正值房產建築商難以承受相關費用和負面消息曝光的時候。

佛羅里達珊瑚角的小型建築商Aubuchon Homes總裁阿布考恩(Gary Aubuchon)說﹐建築業現在的情況是﹐它再也無法承受哪怕一個負面問題。公司近期重新安置了一位房主﹐以便對其房屋進行空氣和乾墻測試﹐部分幹牆來自中國。
可耐福天津公司表示﹐乾墻是用天然石膏礦製作的。在調查了乾牆氣味後﹐該公司表示﹐它已調換了石膏礦材料﹐並安裝了氣味監測儀。

在佛羅里達的部分開發項目中﹐乾牆問題出現前幾個月出現了取暖和冷卻系統故障。

史密斯說﹐自從他2007年3月搬進這套Lennar建造的聯排別墅以來﹐空調系統先後出現了多種問題。他說﹐維修工人對頻繁發生故障感到很困惑。

Lennar僱用的環境咨詢公司Environ對其他開發項目所作的測試顯示﹐有些地方發現有乾牆釋放含硫氣體的情況﹐這類氣體有可能對電器設備造成腐蝕﹐比如空調里的銅線圈。

佛羅里達衛生部門官員說﹐他們仍在調查是否是中國產的乾牆引起了氣味和其他問題。

佛羅里達衛生署毒理學家克勞斯(David Krause)說﹐我們必須查清到底是乾牆引起的問題﹐還是只是巧合。

Michael Corkery