Case Study (4 of 4): Impact Evaluation of Hazardous Imported Drywall Using Spatial Analytics

Today, a host of materials are considered Indoor Health Hazards (IHHs): asbestos, various heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and even radioactive materials (Rasmussen et al., 2013). However, IHHs may also be found in building supplies that use poor primary and or intermediate raw materials, which are often not required to pass public health safety parameters prior to their use. One example of such IHHs include materials containing chemicals injected during their manufacturing, such as imported drywall (IDW) produced in China (CPSC, 2021). [Note: Both governmental and NGOs have referred to this material as Chinese Drywall (CDW) within their literature. This study refers to it as Imported Drywall (IDW)].

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), IDW was installed in homes built between 2001 and 2009. Thus far, 4,051 reports from U.S. residents in 44 states and territories have been submitted and linked to the presence of hazardous IDW (CPSC, 2021). Over half of all reports originated in Florida (CPSC, 2014). Subsequent investigations detected the presence of sulfur gases including hydrogen sulfide (H?S) and carbonyl sulfide (COS) within the affected homes. The gases are expelled from the IDW through a process called off-gassing. Sulfur gases are toxic and cause respiratory irritation, headaches, sinusitis, eye irritation, throat irritation,?malaise as well as weakness in people and pets (ATSDR, CDC, 2014). In addition, the “rotten egg” smelling emissions from IDW corrode plumbing and electrical systems through the chemical displacement of the materials turning them black.

Estimating Impact

Though there have been just over four thousand reports, the actual number of homes may be a lot higher. When first reported in 2009, calculating the number of potentially affected structures was time consuming and complex. This has prevented federal and state agencies from arriving at an accurate number. Some non-governmental sources put the estimate north of 100,000 properties (NPR, 2009; PEHSU, 2022). This study offers spatial analytics as an alternative to estimating the distribution of hazardous IDW used in new home construction and repair prompted by natural disasters, such as hurricanes.

Setting the Stage

Four hurricanes either affected or had a direct hit on Florida in 2004 – Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Charley. The following year Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were also severely impacted by hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, and Rita. According to PEHSU, the degree of destruction in Florida as well as other Gulf states partially catalyzed a spike in new home construction and repair in 2006 and 2007. This spike led to a shortage in domestic building materials and an increased the importation of building supplies including IDW (PEHSU, 2021). In other words, it became a perfect storm scenario. This leads us to our study area.

Study Area

According to the U.S. Census, Port Saint Lucie, FL, located in southeastern Florida, has a population of 204,851 as of 2020 and it is the largest municipality in the County of St. Lucie (U.S. Census, 2022). Hurricane Jeanne made landfall at Hutchinson Island east of the cities of Stuart, Port Saint Lucie, and Port Salerno, FL on September 26th, 2004 (NHC, NOAA, 2014; WPD, NOAA, 2021). Incidentally these locations were also affected just weeks prior by hurricane Frances (PBS, 2004). As such, the geographic focus of this study is the City of Port Saint Lucie, FL.

Method

Hazardous IDW has been overwhelmingly reported by Florida single family homes built between 2006 and 2007 (CPSC, 2021). Using LandVision – a product by LightBox (lightboxre.com) – a query was completed to find a total number of single-family homes built within the City of Port Saint Lucie, FL broken down by year using the Property Search criteria. This query was repeated each year 2000 through 2020.

Results & Discussion

The property search completed in LandVision yielded a total of 9,709 [6938 in 2006; 2771 in 2007] newly constructed single-family homes within the City of Port Saint Lucie, FL. As such, these properties meet the criteria of homes that potentially contain IDW and may be used to estimate the impact in other cities that were subject to hurricane damage along the Florida coastline. Moreover, if 2006 and 2007 had been isolated and studied, this article would have arrived at a straightforward conclusion. However, this is not the case. New home construction has been queried and recorded beginning in 2000 through 2020. This data allowed built an observable pattern of rapid growth in new home construction starting in 2000 through 2006 - new home construction during this time period had an average growth of 35% year over year.

The hurricanes recorded in 2004 and 2005 cumulatively caused unprecedented damage throughout the Gulf states and, as we have mentioned, researchers have suggested that the degree of damage caused a shortage of domestic building materials. However, from 2000 to 2010, the population in the City of Port Saint Lucie, FL grew by almost doubled from 89,099 to 164,603 people (U.S. Census, 2022). The growth in population validates the growth in single-family homes within the city demonstrated in this study. As such, it’s worth mentioning that the shortage in domestic building materials may not have been due solely to the damage left behind unprecedented natural disasters. It may have been largely prompted by the unprecedented increase in construction driven by the real estate bubble beginning in the early 2000’s and dramatically ending in 2008. In other words, domestic producers may have been unable to keep up with demand and distributors saw opportunities overseas. Evidence suggests that this subject deserves further research from a spatial analytical point of view.

Sources

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2014. Fact Sheet Public Health Implications of Chinese-manufactured Drywall. Link:https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/drywall/docs/Final%20drywall_factsheet_05-2-14.pdf

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 2014. Number of Drywall Incidents by State as of March 13, 2014 report. Link: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/pdfs/blk_media_CPSC%20Drywall%20State%20breakdowns%203%2013%2014.pdf

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Environmental Health. 2017. “Imported Drywall and Health – A Guide for Healthcare Providers.” Link:https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/drywall/docs/Drywall_for_Healthcare_Providers.pdf

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 2021. “Where Has Problem Drywall Been Reported?” Link: https://www.cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-education-centers/drywall-information-center/where-has-problem-drywall-been-reported

National Hurricane Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NHC, NOAA). 2014. Tropical Cyclone Report, Hurricane Jeanne. Report Authored by: Miles B. Lawrence and Hugh D. Cobb. Link: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL112004_Jeanne.pdf

National Public Radio (NPR). 2009. “Toxic Chinese Drywall Creates A Housing Disaster.” Link: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114182073

PBS News Hour (Aired September 27, 2004). "Hurricane Jeanne Leaves Path of Destruction”: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/weather-july-dec04-jeanne_09-27

Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU). 2022. Fact Sheets for Families and Communities. Health Effects from Chinese Drywall (Revised) Guidance for Parents and Families. Link: https://www.pehsu.net/Public_Drywall_Advisory.html

Rasmussen, Pat E., Levesque, Christine, Chenier, Marc, Gardner, H. David, Jose-Otazo, Heather, and Petrovic, Sanya. 2013. Canadian House Dust Study: Population -based concentrations, loads, and loading rates of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc inside urban homes. Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 443(15): 520-529.

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. QuickFacts, Port St. Lucie city, Florida Link:https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/portstluciecityflorida

Weather Prediction Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (WPD, NOAA). 2021. Hurricane Jeanne – September 25 – 30, 2004. Link: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/jeanne2004.html?