Free Republic

New federal guidelines say thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall won't be safe unless they are completely gutted.The Consumer Product Safety Commission released the guidelines Friday. They say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall must be removed.About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall. A large quantity of the drywall was imported during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes. It has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs...

.....The agency said it had found diethylene glycol (DEG) in toothpaste sold at a Dollar Plus retail store in Miami under the brand name ShiR Fresh. It said nine other brands also contained the sweet, syrupy chemical and warned the products had a “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury,” especially when used by children or individuals with kidney or liver disease. “All the toothpastes were registered with the FDA and approved to be distributed in the United States, so they contradicted themselves by warning consumers to avoid using China-made toothpastes and detaining shipments from China,” said Li Yuanping,...