Saipan, Guam and American Samoa received 28,778 sheets of imported Chinese drywall in 2006, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a report as it investigates the use of tainted Chinese drywall that has been linked to 810 incident reports since July.

Tainted Chinese drywall has been tied to corrosion of metal components, foil smells and complaints by homeowners of health issues, including headaches, respiratory problems and nosebleeds. Complaints about the tainted product first surfaced in Florida.

CNMI consumer counsel Mike Ernest said the matter is being taken seriously but added that his office is merely beginning its investigation.

“For the time being, consumers who have recently remodeled using drywall imported from China should be aware of and report noxious odors coming from drywall, the corrosion of metal objects in the home, and short-term health effects generally affecting the upper respiratory tract (including throat irritations, scratchy eyes, headaches and other symptoms that tend to clear up after some time in fresh air),” he told Saipan Tribune.

The consumer counsel has also made initial communication with CPSC, and Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, as well as with the CNMI Division of Environmental Quality on the matter, and expects to hear more information in the days ahead.

CPSC, in its August update on the investigation of imported drywall, said it has received approval from the Chinese government for an investigative visit to China beginning Aug. 17. It has asked to visit several sites in China that it believes to be of interest.

The federal agency said it continues to analyze the information it received from consumers, builders, importers, manufacturers and suppliers of drywall to determine how much imported drywall is affected and where that drywall has been installed.

“To date, CPSC staff has confirmed 6,211,200 sheets of Chinese drywall were imported into the U.S., plus 28,778 sheets imported into Guam, Saipan, and American Samoa during 2006. The staff is continuing to verify more shipments,” the agency said in its report.

CPSC said it has received 202 more incident reports related to Chinese drywall in July, raising the total to 810 reports.

It also has reports from two new states, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, bringing the total to 23 states and the District of Columbia. But majority of the reports continue to be from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.

“The focus of the federal drywall team has remained on both pursuing the scientific bases of this problem through the studies outlined in the July report and tracing the chain of commerce of the drywall,” the agency added.

It also said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating reports that radioactive phosphogypsum was used in some drywall. It expects those analyses will be completed later this month.

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