Over the past couple of months, my local newspaper (Sarasota Herald Tribune www.heraldtribune.com) has published a series of investigative articles about drywall. Yes, drywall. The articles attach research to the growls I've overheard in hardware stores about corroding copper pipes and a sickening stink of sulfur in new houses. Aaron Kessler's article on Sunday put more light on a problem that some homeowners claim has made them sick and others admit has made them flat-out mad. According to the Herald's coverage and a growing number of studies, the problem is drywall that was imported to Florida (and several other states, for that matter) from China since 2006.

Millions of pounds of drywall made in China are imported to the U.S. every year. Some of it is made by Chinese companies for multinational companies. Kessler reports that one of those companies, Knauf, received complaints as early as 2006 about the sulfur smell from drywall manufactured by its Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin plant. A possible link between the sulfur and corrosion of copper pipes was identified through a 2008 investigation by the company.

Now, it's no longer a battle between homeowner and builders, at least one of which has conducted air-quality tests and says that the amount of sulfur emitted in one of the houses was below federal guidelines for what could endanger human health. That's small comfort to homeowners who have moved out, insisting that the air made their families sick. Now, there are studies underway on the drywall, more studies about air quality and some builders tearing out drywall and corroded pipes. Local inspectors have been staying on top of the problem, the state's health department has received a pile of complaints, and I would expect the EPA to start focusing on the problem at some point. Maybe it's a health problem and maybe it's an environmental problem. Maybe that's the point of most human health and environmental problems: they can't be separated all that easily.