Chinese Drywall NOT FOUND in Collier County Schools.

The foul-smelling Chinese drywall that has been blamed for failed air conditioning units and corroded electrical wiring throughout South Florida had several school districts checking their construction projects for the product from as far back as 2004.

Sulfur gas emissions leaching from imported drywall, which is made from gypsum, a hydrated form of calcium sulfate, may be combining with humidity to corrode copper, such as air conditioning coils, electrical wiring and copper pipes.

About 30 individuals, as well as county health agencies and private consultants, have contacted the Florida Department of Health with complaints of sulfur-like odors with repeated air conditioning evaporator coil failures, said Eulinda Jackson, the state agency’s spokeswoman. Problems have cropped up in 10 counties: Collier, Lee, Sarasota, Martin, Manatee, Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas, St. Lucie and Miami-Dade, she said.

Susan Smith, another Florida Department of Health spokeswoman, said 2 percent of the complaints were health-related.

Collier County School District reviewed 18 projects, including eight new schools, Wednesday after a Naples Daily News inquiry. Lee conducted an inventory on about 19 projects in December. And Manatee completed its check Wednesday. All three determined they were not recipients of the suspect drywall.

Representatives from Martin, Sarasota, Broward and Palm Beach districts said they had no reason to believe they received any Chinese-made drywall because of certain school construction requirements.

Officials from Miami-Dade, Pinellas and St. Lucie school districts could not be reached for comment.

“There’s nothing wrong with double checking when something like this occurs to ensure the safety and well being of our students and staff,” said Joe Donzelli, Lee schools’ communications director. “It’s incumbent on us to investigate — even if we believed it didn’t have an impact on our schools — just to be sure.”

The controversy so far has been isolated to residential buildings and Alvah Hardy, Collier County School District’s executive director of facilities management, said schools have different product requirements, including fire-resistant drywall.

The drywall manufacturing company at the center of the controversy, Knauf Plasterboard (Tianjin) Co., has not responded to questions about whether a fire-resistant product had been in the U.S. deliveries.

Michael Gardner, executive director of the Gypsum Association, which represents drywall manufacturers in the United States and Canada, said it is possible for residential drywall to make its way into nonresidential buildings.

“(Nonresidential buildings) might require a different type of board because of its need for enhanced fire resistance or its use in sound attenuation system, but it’s not to imply that it is not the same board,” Gardner said. “It’s all wallboard. ... To imply that you can’t use it in a nonresidential (building is not the case).”

Lennar, the Miami-based home builder, has acknowledged some of its properties were built with the Chinese gypsum board. It hired ENVIRON International, an environmental consulting firm, to test air quality in more than 50 homes, according to a company statement.

“So far, our investigation in Southwest Florida shows that independent subcontractors installed Chinese drywall in a very small percentage of Lennar homes built between Nov. 2005 and Nov. 2006,” said Darin McMurray, division president. “Scientific testing shows no indication of any health risks to our homeowners.”

The company did not comment on which of its communities have been affected.

The state health department is in talks with Lennar, ENVIRON, and Baker & McKenzie, a lawfirm representing Knauf. It is also working with the Southeast region of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“Right now our goal is to determine whether or not this is a phenomenon that poses an unacceptable risk to health for all Floridians,” Jackson said.

Exposure to the drywall could cause upper respiratory symptoms, itching throat and burning eyes that let up after leaving the building, she said.

About 300 million square feet of gypsum board was imported into the United States from China in 2006 and 2007, according to the Gypsum Association. During that time, 65.7 billion square feet was used.

Knauf said complaints about the board’s odor surfaced in South Florida in 2006, but no product had been rejected because of the scent and no health concerns had been detected.

In 2008, the company received a complaint of corroding copper coils, but Knauf said that plasterboard was from an unknown source.

“The testing has confirmed that copper has blackened and may be caused by low levels of naturally occurring sulfur gases,” the company said. “The low levels of gases do not present a health risk to persons within the residences.”

Don Smith, director of technical services for the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, which represents about 2,500 drywall manufacturers, contractors and distributors, said he hasn’t seen any scientific data that would lead the organization to take a stand on the issue.

The bulk of complaints logged at the health department are in Lee and Manatee counties, including six from one street called Montauk Point Crossing in Bradenton in Lennar community Heritage Harbour.

A state health department summary of complaints showed two Collier County cases, but both concerned properties in Lee County.

The Collier County Health Department has not received any complaints, according to spokeswoman Deb Millsap.

Adding to health concerns, Collier County Building Director Bob Dunn said corroding copper wiring in electrical systems poses a significant danger.

“If it was contaminating the wiring you would likely have to rewire the entire house,” he said. “It would definitely be a hazardous condition that would have to be addressed immediately.”

Brenda Talbert, outgoing executive vice president of the Collier Building Industry Association, said the extent of the problem may be unknown for some time.

“Who knows how pervasive this is and how long is it going to take to reveal itself,” Talbert said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with this. It’s not good.