News Tagged ‘Florida

father and son hit the road to raise brain injury awareness

TBI 100x100When Joshua Brantner was 20 years old, he attended a party that changed his life forever. He arrived as a healthy, ordinary guy but left in an ambulance with a traumatic brain injury that severely impaired his mental and physical functions.

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CPSC info center helps consumers living with toxic Chinese drywall

chinese drywallThe federal government has launched a new section of its web site called the Drywall Information Center. The agency developed the section in an effort to field consumer questions and complaints about the influx of tainted Chinese-made drywall to the U.S. that occurred in 2006 and 2007 when domestic drywall supplies ran low.

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Toxic drywall: new meaning for the term China Syndrome?

cpsc importsIn the 1970s, a blockbuster movie popularized the apocalyptic theory that radioactive material from a nuclear meltdown could burn through the earth’s core and resurface on the other side of the world. Today, the words “China Syndrome” could be an accurate description of the influx of dangerous consumer products flooding the U.S. market from overseas and China in particular – products such as toxic Chinese drywall, which builders and suppliers imported during the 2006-2007 building boom and post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts. These products, analysts are coming to understand, threaten to harm more than the American consumer and his wallet.

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Trials to proceed against unresponsive Chinese drywall company

Taishan wbChinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd., the company accused of producing and then exporting toxic, sulfuric wallboard to the United States, was found to be in default during a preliminary trial in New Orleans after it failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by an Alabama home builder in June. The Mobile-based Mitchell Company, a builder of residential and commercial properties, alleges it used Taishan’s toxic drywall extensively in its homes. The company filed a motion earlier this month asking the court for a default judgment against the company.

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deaths and strangulations prompt series of shade and blind recalls

blind loopThe U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a series of vertical blind and window shade recalls after the death of three children and near-strangulation injuries of several others.

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California grower recalls salmonella contaminated lettuce

recalled romaineA California produce grower has recalled romaine lettuce that was distributed throughout 29 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico because of salmonella contamination. Tanimura & Antle, Inc. of Salinas, Calif., issued the after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture detected salmonella on the lettuce in a randomized test.

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FDA announces recall of contaminated gravy and sauce mixes

sauer hq 100x100Another salmonella-related recall was announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this time for a brand of sauce and gravy mixes manufactured by the C.F. Sauer Company of Richmond, Virginia.

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Families flee homes containing Chinese drywall

florida house 100x100Congress, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a spectrum of state and consumer agencies are scrambling to unravel the mystery behind tons of toxic drywall that importers brought into the country from China. Enough drywall to build 30,000 homes entered U.S. ports from China in 2006 and 2007. Now, people in as many as 18 states claim that the drywall is making them sick while corroding their homes’ electrical wiring, air conditioning units, and other household systems.

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Bill seeks to ban importation of substandard building materials

bart stupak 100x100Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Mich) has introduced a bill that seeks to block the import of substandard building materials into the United States. The bill, H.R. 2155, would give U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) the authority to prohibit sub-standard steel, cement, and drywall from entering the country.

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Floridians press Congress for help with Chinese drywall problem

florida state seal 100x100For thousands of Florida homeowners, the Chinese drywall catastrophe couldn’t have hit at a worse time. A contracting economy and a worse-than-stale housing market have already caused home values to plummet. Add to that the likelihood that one’s house might have to be completely gutted before it’s once again safe to live in, and the picture is bleak indeed.

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