A better understanding of the cause of the smelly and corrosive fumes released by certain lots of drywall imported from China has led one company to a solution for the problem in homes and other buildings, short of tearing out the offending drywall and replacing it along with any affected copper containing mechanical elements of the structure. Slingerlands, New York based Sabre Technology Services has developed a technique costing $10 to $15 per square foot, using a tent placed over the affected home or other building and fumigating the entire tented structure with chlorine dioxide gas.
Apparently the chlorine dioxide not only kills the bacteria in the drywall which produce the gas, it also neutralizes whatever sulphurous fumes have already been released and absorbed into other components of the structure, preventing the recurrence of smells and corrosion which sometimes happen even when all the offending drywall product has been physically removed. Sabre has even developed a technique for using dry filter units to detect the presence of fumes in suspect structures which are too new to have become smelly as yet. It seems Sabre is the only company owning chlorine dioxide generating equipment with enough capacity to perform this service.
Apparently the chlorine dioxide not only kills the bacteria in the drywall which produce the gas, it also neutralizes whatever sulphurous fumes have already been released and absorbed into other components of the structure, preventing the recurrence of smells and corrosion which sometimes happen even when all the offending drywall product has been physically removed. Sabre has even developed a technique for using dry filter units to detect the presence of fumes in suspect structures which are too new to have become smelly as yet. It seems Sabre is the only company owning chlorine dioxide generating equipment with enough capacity to perform this service.
