中国含硫石膏板惹祸，美国国会遇立法难题

    近四年来，中国问题石膏板的受害者一直盼望美国联邦政府能帮助他们解决这个影响了美国数千家庭的问题。

    这些有毒石膏板释放出的含硫气体腐蚀了室内的线路和管道，造成烟雾报警器和电子设备失灵，还可能和屋主及其子女、甚至家中宠物的呼吸道疾病、鼻窦问题或者鼻出血等症状有关。

    在美国第112届国会行将届满之际，议员们最终通过了针对有毒石膏板的《石膏板安全法案》（Drywall Safety Act），并在生死攸关的财政悬崖谈判进入尾声时将这项法案递到了总统奥巴马的面前。上周，奥巴马在这项法案上签了字。

    现在只剩下一个问题：这项法案基本上不能防止毒石膏板问题继续扩散，也不能避免它再次出现。该法案并没有要求制定相关标准，从而确保今后的进口或国产石膏板的含硫气体释放量不会达到能引发这些问题的水平。它也没有要求出售相关房屋时说明使用了中国石膏板——这有可能让购房者的下一代都面临入住有毒房屋的风险。

    此外，迫于业界游说带来的压力，这项缩了水的法案实际上把制定新规则的任务完全交给了石膏板制造商，而不是政府监管部门。

    因此，对经济上和身体上都深受毒石膏板侵害的人们来说，情况可能不会有什么改观。而造成这些石膏板释放腐蚀性气体的真正原因也许一直会隐藏在迷雾之中。

    多数美国住宅都用石膏板作为内墙建筑材料。楼市一片繁荣的时期，石膏板需求之旺盛令人惊叹。而飓风肆虐的2005年（其中包括卡特里娜飓风）过后，整个美国都出现了石膏板供给不足的局面。许多供应商和建筑公司转而使用从中国进口的石膏板。

    不幸的，随后的情况证明，大量进入美国市场的中国石膏板都含有有害物质，它们会在室内释放出硫化氢和二硫化碳。

    2009年1月，《萨拉索塔先驱论坛报》（Sarasota Herald-Tribune）报道称，2006-2008年美国从中国至少进口了5.50亿磅（24.75万吨）石膏板。业界专家估算，这些石膏板足以修建6万栋普通房屋。从那时起，美国各地建起的成百上千栋房屋都使用了中国石膏板，而这些房屋也都出现了几乎相同的腐蚀和健康问题。（该报和非营利性新闻机构ProPublica在2010年收集的信息显示，约7,000栋问题房屋涉及诉讼或退税；此后这个数字一直在上升）。

    For nearly four years, victims of contaminated Chinese-made drywall have sought help from the federal government to solve a problem that's wreaked havoc in thousands of homes across the country.

    The tainted drywall releases sulfur gases that corrode a home's wires and pipes, cause smoke detectors and electronic devices to fail, and has been linked to a host of respiratory ailments, nosebleeds and sinus problems plaguing affected homeowners, their children – even their pets.

    In the waning hours of the 112th Congress, lawmakers finally passed a piece of legislation aimed at tainted drywall – sending the bill to President Obama's desk during the final stages of the high-stakes wrangling over the fiscal cliff. He signed the Drywall Safety Act last week.

    There's just one problem: the bill does little to prevent the problem from continuing to spread, nor keep it from happening again. And it doesn't call for standards ensuring that future drywall – imported or domestically produced – does not release similarly problematic levels of sulfur gases. It also doesn't mandate disclosure of Chinese drywall when an affected home is sold – leaving a whole new generation of buyers currently at risk for inheriting the tainted homes.

    What's more, after lobbying pressure from industry, the watered-down legislation hands off virtually all responsibility for developing a handful of new rules to drywall manufacturers themselves, rather than government regulators.

    As a result, little may actually change for those whose finances and health have been severely impacted by the tainted drywall. And what's actually causing the drywall to release its corrosive gases may remain a mystery.

    Drywall, also known as wallboard, gypsum board or Sheetrock, is used to build the interior walls of most U.S. homes. During the housing boom, demand was incredibly high, but after the devastating 2005 storm season that included Hurricane Katrina, drywall supplies around the U.S. ran short. A number of suppliers and builders turned to imported gypsum board from China.

    Unfortunately, large quantities of the Chinese drywall arriving on U.S. shores turned out to be contaminated – releasing noxious and corrosive sulfur gases such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide into the air of homes built with it.

    In January 2009, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that at least 550 million pounds of drywall arrived from China between 2006 and 2008 -- enough for 60,000 average-sized houses, according to building experts. Since then, hundreds and then thousands of homes indeed popped up across the country with tainted Chinese drywall and nearly identical corrosion problems and health effects. (Records compiled by the Herald-Tribune and ProPublica in 2010 found about 7,000 affected homes involved in lawsuits or tax abatement programs; the number has grown since then.)