Timeline

August 2008, DOH Staff received an email from Henry Slack, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4 Office asking about reports on homes with a sulfur-like odor problem and copper corrosion. Emails and discussions with County Health Department staff in Sarasota and Lee counties revealed some emerging trends and many unanswered questions about a possible connection between sulfur gasses and drywall imported from China in Florida homes.

August 28, Clark Eldredge included the first mention of the topic in the weekly bullets of the Bureau of Community Environmental Health, reporting that the Radon and Indoor Air program was monitoring reports of repeated air conditioning (A/C) evaporator coil failures with an unknown cause in homes less than three years old.

September 2008, DOH Staff continued to receive information from contacts at the US EPA and County Health Departments. DOH Staff learned of work performed by Dr. Bob DeMott and Dr. Jamie Poole, consultants for Environ and Lennar.

On October 2, 2008, DeMott held a briefing via a teleconference and webcast attended by EPA, DOH and CHD staff. DeMott was joined by Dr. Jamie Poole, also of Environ, and an attorney for Lennar.

On November 4, 2008, David Krause made initial contact with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and spoke with Dr. Kris Hatelid, a CPSC toxicologist. Hatelid said Chinese drywall was under their jurisdiction, but due to HR 4040 workload (re: safety of children’s products), it was not on their radar or a priority.

November 24, 2008, report identifying 21 specific data gaps and other information needed to address the emerging issue of Chinese drywall. The report also identified specific agencies most likely to be responsible for gathering specific data. The gaps are outlined in a separate document titled “Re: Gaps in Data/Information on Coil Corrosion Phenomena Associated with Gypsum Drywall Emissions.” The report stressed a need to understand the underlying issues of source strength, emission mechanisms, corrosion chemistry, secondary emissions from corroded materials, and human exposures before making an informed opinion on the public risks posed by this phenomenon. Author Dr. David Krause. Media interest in the story results in the first of many interviews with reporters from Florida and National outlets. On December 10, 2008, Krause spoke with Aaron Kesler, reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. On January 9, 2009, Krause spoke with Keith Morelli, reporter for the Tampa Tribune. On January 23, 2009, Krause spoke with Cheryl Simmons at WSVN in Miami.

On January 16, 2009, Krause got an offer of assistance from Lynn Wilder, an Industrial Hygienist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

January 26 through January 31, 2009, Krause and Wallace conducted a week-long inspection of 12 homes affected by the drywall in six south Florida counties. The preliminary investigation was intended to identify common traits among those experiencing AC corrosion and association with Chinese drywall.

On February 2, 2009, Krause prepared a summary of the week-long inspection of the homes mentioned above.

In February 2009, Krause spoke with or contacted the following agency representatives. • Patti Schnell with the Lee County/Cape Coral Construction Association • Mike Palecki in the Attorney General’s office regarding an upcoming panel discussion planned for February 25. • Tom Rush, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DoACS), and Ila Jones at the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). • Karina Salgado (CPSC) to arrange a visit and record review on February 23.

On February 5, 2009, DOH held a meeting with DCA, AG’s office, and DoACS. (Meeting minutes appear below in entry for February 13.)

In a February 13, 2009 email, Wallace provided a summary of a meeting held February 5 at the Florida DOH headquarters. Highlights of the meeting included consideration of a consumer warning/recall of the product, although the meeting attendees decided information was still insufficient. DOH asked the US Consumer Product Commission (US CPSC) to serve as point of contact for consumers to report complaints through their hotline (www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx or to call 800-638-2772). Concerns were raised about a lack of data regarding nighttime concentrations since samples had only been taken during the daytime. DOH asked DCA for technical expertise in evaluating any possible electrical or natural gas hazards re: unexpected rapid and ongoing corrosion in these homes. A need for coordinated public messages regarding the state’s activities in this matter was also discussed.

February 23, 2009 Krause • held a conference call/meeting with the DOH Director of Environmental Health, Lisa Conti, and Judith Hartner (Lee CHD Director) • worked with Clark Eldredge, Jorge Laguna and Tim Wallace (DOH) on developing a case definition re: Chinese wallboard issues. • gave files to date to Salgado (CPSC) and requested a technical evaluation of compromised electrical wiring systems in homes. • spoke with a private industry electrical engineer.

February 24, 2009, Krause held a teleconference with attorney for Knauf, Doug Sanders and met with Larry Cerro (AG’s office consultant).

February 25, 2009, the Lee County Building Industry Association and the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association provided a Foreign Drywall Session, which included Krause as a panel member, along with two attorneys, and a private consulting firm’s toxicologist. The presentation includes photos of examples of the corrosion, samples of the Chinese wallboard, and details defining DOH’s role in the investigation of the problem. Krause mentioned DOH was working on a case definition to help distinguish related cases, in addition to a brochure for homeowners and guidance related to home inspections. 200 builders were in attendance at the session, along with 6 reporters (print, TV).

March 1, 2009, Krause received a call from Pete Mitchell, Chief of Staff, and wrote a legislative contact email to DOH management re: Day (Sen. Nelson’s legal counsel) visit to Florida homes with Chinese drywall. Krause arranged a local contact for Day to visit on March 11 and 12.

March 4, 2009, a new case definition was drafted called: “Case Definition (03-04-09) for Premature Copper Corrosion in Residences Possibly Associated with the Presence of Imported Drywall from China.”

March 4, 2009, Krause held a conference call with Wilder (ATSDR), Salgado (CPSC), and Slack (EPA).

March 6, 2009, Krause was interviewed by Julie Schmidt, reporter for USA Today, and also spoke with EPA-ERT chemist Raj Singhvi and Wilder (ATSDR) regarding analysis of gypsum.

March 9, 2009, Krause shipped some drywall samples to US EPA –ERT (Raj Singhvi) in Edison, NJ. He was also called by Sen. Nelson’s Chief of Staff, updated the AG’s office and called Joanna Matheson (CPSC) to schedule a meeting. March 11, 2009, Krause interviewed by Allison Ross, reporter for the Palm Beach Post.

March 12, 2009, Krause spoke with Virginia Beach, VA Fire Marshall, Kevin Sweeney; Romy Herring, a North Carolina indoor air expert; and with Lori Streit about a report delayed till March 18th due to the size and complexity of the review.

March 13, 2009, Krause met with Chris Day (Senator Bill Nelson’s legal counsel).

March 15 through 18, 2009, Krause attended the Society of Toxicologists meeting in Baltimore, MD. While attending the conference Krause met several times with CPSC toxicologists.

March 16, 2009, Krause met with Matheson (CPSC) and Hatelid (CPSC) for an informal lunch meeting to discuss drywall.

March 18, 2009, Salgado (CPSC) called Krause to arrange on-site visits and Krause also received an email from Glenn Dunlap (CPSC).

March 19, Krause was called by Chris Day (Sen. Nelson’s office).

March 20, 2009, Krause called Matheson (CPSC) regarding Monday, March 23 press conference and at 1:30 held an ATSDR/interstates conference call.

March 23, 2009, Krause spoke at a national press teleconference at with representatives from ABC, CNN, CBS, NY Times, etc. with about 50 attendees. He gave an update on DOH activities related to the Chinese wallboard and summarized the main finding of sample analyses.

March 26, 2009, Krause met with Doug Sanders, attorney for Knauf (a German manufacturer of wallboard made in China) and Phillip Goad, Principal Toxicologist for the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), about testing of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale homes in 2006 and homes in Homestead in February 2009. Further details of the meeting are in a separate document.

March 27, Krause, joined by Doc Kokol (DOH PIO) and Conti (DOH) spoke with CPSC and held a conference call with ATSDR followed by an interstate ATSDR conference call at 1:30. March 27, the Phase II survey was released to the CHDs. (Paper form only). March 30, 2009, Krause drafted a letter to EPA and reviewed/revised the case definition. March 31, 2009, Krause called the AG’s office, Tom Rush (DoACS), Singhvi (EPA) and Wilder (ATSDR) at 2:00 p.m., Sen. Jeremy Ring (re: Parkland) at 2:15, the CHD PIO at 3:15, and then at 4:30 scheduled a conference call with Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and Dr. David Halstead from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

April 1, 2009, Krause had a conference call with DEM and FEMA at 10:00 a.m. and a second meeting at 2:30 p.m.

April 2, 2009, Krause spoke with Chris Day (Sen. Nelson’s office), Don Russo, an attorney representing 50 homes, and Nancy Spurlock with US Gypsum. Krause briefed Lori Rowe, with the Governor’s office.

April 3, 2009, Krause briefed Governor Crist and drafted a letter to EPA/CDC under Crist’s signature. Krause also spoke with David Jafee (NAHB) and then at 3:30 briefed the governor’s office’s Deputy Chief of Staff Lori Rowe with Doc Kokol.

April 7, 2009, Krause accompanied Sen. Nelson to an affected residence in Bradenton. Later that day Krause and Siedlecki met with Environ and Salazar in Tampa.

April 7, 2009, Krause compiled a list of agencies contacts related to drywall in other states and federal agencies.

April 8, 2009, the first Incident Command System (ICS) meeting on Chinese drywall was held to establish its structure. Krause also had a meeting with DeMott (Environ) and Chris Marlin (Lennar attorney) in his office.

April 9, 2009, the second ICS meeting was held, followed by a meeting with other state agencies.

April 10, 2009, DOH received a copy of letter to the US EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concerning the Chinese drywall from Governor Charlie Crist’s office dated April 3, 2009. Crist’s letter requested federal assistance, provide a thorough, robust exposure assessment, pointing out other states were reporting similar issues. Crist named DOH state toxicologist Krause as Florida’s point of contact.

April 10, 2009, ATSDR provided DOH with a draft of key messages describing roles for ATSDR and DOH re: Chinese drywall; a statement that insufficient information exists to determine public health implications; other agencies’ contact info; and tips to get fresh air and see a doctor if related health effects are suspected.

April 10, 2009, DOH issued an Incident Action Plan (IAP).

April 10, 2009 DOH wrote letter to Kiar FL House of Representatives.

April 12, 2009, Krause attended a meeting with ICS, SG and staff.

April 13, 2009, DOH Director of Communications Doc Kokol developed a DOH communications plan concerning Chinese drywall for the department.

April 14, 2009, Krause attended another meeting with SG and ICS chief and Krause briefed the Governor’s Chief of Staff.

April 15, 2009 DOH held a conference call to coordinate subject matter experts (SMEs) in the CHDs answering drywall phone calls. The purpose of the call was to provide an update on DOH efforts and current knowledge re: drywall, to find out how much demand the counties were seeing and to determine what the CHDs might need from HQ for support.

April 15, 2009, DOH Division of Environmental Health Director Lisa Conti sent a letter to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) requesting a health hazard evaluation to assess occupational hazards related to remediation and abatement of homes with Chinese drywall in Florida. As of January 8, 2010 NIOSH has not performed the requested HHE.

April 15, 2009, DOH received a report on the radiological results of drywall samples with alpha and beta emissions both being at normal background levels and gamma emissions indicating only natural occurring nuclides typically found in soil at very low levels.

April 16, 2009, DOH posted photographs of Chinese drywall and examples of copper corrosion and other suspected effects from the drywall on the DOH Imported Drywall website as part of the case definition.

April 17, 2009, DOH held a conference call to prepare for an inter-agency meeting on Monday, April 20. In preparation for the meeting on the 20th a summary of the different agencies’ roles and contacts re: Chinese drywall was developed.

April 20, 2009, DOH sponsored a meeting of several agencies including DoACS, DEP, DCF, and DBPR to discuss roles and responsibilities of each one and to begin developing a integrated inter-agency approach to the drywall issues.

April 20, 2009, Krause met with Sen. Ted Deutch along with Kim Berfield, DOH Deputy Secretary.

April 21, 2009 Krause hosted a conference call with Consultant for the AG office, National Gypsum and Packer Engineering (National Gypsum’s consultants. (See Attached Report)

April 21, 2009, DOH held another daily ICS meeting to discuss a Media Briefing scheduled for April 27, development of a timeline summary to post on the DOH website, and continue considering a centralized call center to answer Chinese-drywall-related questions from the general public, including the Poison Control Center, DACS: and using a non-governmental, contracted vendor:

April 21, 2009, Conti sent an email to the chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) alerting them to DOH’s investigation, the creation and purpose of an Incident Management Team, and asked what the commission is currently doing related to the drywall.

April 22, 2009, during DOH’s daily ICS meeting, participants considered topics including how the centralized call center needs to function and drafting a letter and email requesting federal partner assistance.

April 23, 2009, another ICS meeting learned of a follow-up letter for federal partners was prepared, that DOH communications is coordinating getting RSS/Email notices setup for DOH drywall website updates and that a summarized DOH timeline will be posted by Friday, April 24.

April 23, 2009, DOH received a press release from the AG’s office announcing the issue of a consumer advisory to Florida homeowners affected by Chinese drywall, encouraging them to avoid scams related to the situation.

April 23, 2009, DOH received details from Merritt (SFO) re: on the State Fire Marshal’s Office’s commitment to Operation Drywall and support activities related to fire and electrical safety.

April 24, 2009, DOH received an email from David Feinman, Legislative Assistant for Congressman Robert Wexler concerning a Multi-Agency Briefing on Contaminated Chinese Drywall held April 23. During the briefing, CPSC presented their three step action plan which includes developing qualitative and quantitative data re: health risk assessment and an extensive testing plan for in-home testing to determine what gases are being emitted; determine the effects of these emissions on home equipment; and continue looking into manufacturing process of this drywall and the differences between US-manufactured and Chinese-manufactured types. The memo reports EPA is working with a group of agencies to determine what kind of studies can be done in-home; what needs to be measured, how to sample, time frame, conditions, etc.

April 24, 2009, Conti forwarded a draft letter intended for EPA, CPSC, and CDC with specific requests for review by Rob Siedlecki, DOH’s Chief of Staff, among others.

April 24, 2009, DOH received an email of an article written for the Florida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention (FACAP) from the Lt. Colonel Division of State Fire Marshal. The article concerns the likelihood of potential arson of homes with Chinese drywall.

April 24, 2009, DOH received an email from DCA of a draft guidelines document concerning how a homeowner can determine if Chinese drywall has impacted the electrical, alarm, air conditioning, or plumbing systems in their home. The draft guidelines also included ones regarding

April 24, 2009, DOH produced another IAP concerning work this week to expand the Incident Management Team (ICS structure) with State Agency Partners under Operation Drywall Unified Command. Objectives in the plan were revised to incorporate these state partners.

April 24, 2009, DOH heard from Lynn Wilder at ATSDR that she and Dr. Cynthia Younger (Poison Information Center) were continuing to work on a draft of educational materials for health care providers related to Chinese drywall

April 27, 2009, DOH shared a PowerPoint presentation to detail the incident’s timeline and management and asked for comments. The presentation will be used at the next Chiefs of Staff Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 26. The PowerPoint was created by ICS team members Tracy Wade and Mike McHargue, depicting the current organizational chart, recommended objectives, and planning objectives. It also includes the five main questions Operation Drywall is endeavoring to answer.

April 27, 2009, DOH circulated the companion House bill (federal) from Wexler’s office to accompany the senate's version.

April 27, 2009, Laguna (DOH) provided an updated map of Florida counties reporting Chinese drywall. April 27, 2009 Incident Commander Conti sent out a reminder to all the agency partners to include a recurring meeting on their calendars for Fridays 9-9:30 for the purpose of brief agency updates.

April 27, 2009, DOH added a summarized timeline of Chinese drywall activities to our website

April 28, 2009, DOH updated the PowerPoint presentation “Incident Timeline and Management: Today and Beyond” added to this timeline yesterday (April 27) to include a new map of counties reporting Chinese drywall and making a change as per DoACS. The presentation was given during a meeting with the Chiefs of Staff.

April 28, 2009, Operation Drywall planning minutes for the day were uploaded to EM Constellation.

April 29, 2009, DOH received a review of Chinese language websites from Youjie Huang (DOH, Bureau of Epidemiology). At the request of Blackmore (DOH), Huang searched the Internet using the key word "drywall" in Chinese, and browsed links to find topics for complaints but did not find any originating from China.

April 29, 2009, Operation Drywall planning minutes from that day’s meeting were posted to EM Constellation.

April 29, 2009, DOH received an email from Phil Wieczynski (DEP) concerning DEP’s role, establishing the agency will provide guidance on the proper disposal of drywall material and to mitigate any outdoor air emissions, specifically Freon and asbestos, associated with the removal of drywall material. In addition, due to the potential for release of hydrogen sulfide emissions associated with Chinese drywall, DEP is coordinating internally to determine the best type of waste facility to recommend for disposal of the material in mass quantities.

April 29, 2009, DOH received a letter dated April 28, 2009 from Salazar Consulting Group detailing “the tasks and estimated costs associated with completion of assessment of Location 1 (Units 80 & 81).” The assessment refers to indoor air testing related to homes affected by Chinese drywall.

April 29, 2009 Governor Crist signs letter to EPA, CDC and CPSC.

April 30, 2009, DFS emailed DOH contact information for the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs Office to assist DOH with scientific examination of the drywall at six laboratories across the nation and provide additional manufacturer and point-of-entry locations on the import of drywall from China.

April 30, 2009 Senator Bill Nelson received letter from EPA stating it’s response to Chinese drywall issue.

April 30, 2009 Governor Crist received letter from EPA, Lisa P. Jackson.

May 1, 2009, DOH received a report from the Chinese Embassy that had been provided to Sen. Bill Nelson’s office concerning Chinese drywall. The report cited plaster as a relatively safe building material; drywall imported from China to the US makes up a very small share of the market; results of both Chinese and US tests had not shown any health hazard; and China wants to cooperate with the relevant US agency.

May 1, 2009, DOH received a copy of a letter from Mary Jean Yon, Director of DEP’s Division of Waste Management, requesting assistance from Matt Hale, Director of the US EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. The letter asks the EPA for financial assistance to conduct scientific research in the removal, handling and disposal of Chinese drywall.

May 1, 2009, DOH received a copy of a letter from Gov. Crist to the US EPA, the CDC and the CPSC for materials testing, laboratory chamber testing, in-home testing, and remediation of homes and establishment of a standard of care, all related to Chinese drywall. The letter also asks again for answers to pending requests made previously by DOH of these federal agencies.

May 1, 2009, DOH received a copy of another letter from Gov. Crist to Sen. Aronberg apprising him of the efforts of the state task force spearheaded by DOH, including the availability of the DOH website for resources related to Chinese drywall. The letter also updates the senator on the interagency efforts underway and the governor’s second request for federal assistance mentioned in a timeline entry above. May 1, 2009 CPSC wrote a letter to Senator Bill Nelson outlining six tracts of action they are currently taking in response to drywall incident.

May 4, 2009, DOH provided a redacted copy of an analysis performed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on samples of American and Chinese manufactured drywall collected by DOH headquarters staff. The redaction replaced the sample IDs containing personal identifiers with de-identified sample numbers. The laboratory report contains the analysis of leachate from the samples re: potential groundwater contamination from Chinese drywall placed in landfills.

May 4, 2009, DOH updated a map of Florida, now showing 312 reports of “cases” of Chinese drywall to CHDs in 27 counties (up from 298 as of April 27).

May 4, 2009, DOH hosted first weekly Technical Specialist conference call.

May 5, 2009 CPSC posted new website on drywall.

May 4-5, 2009 DOH met with EPA in Lee county to visit the three homes to be sampled by EPA in June. Notes from that meeting follows.

May 4, 2009, Krause conducted a series of preliminary site visits of homes in south-west Florida to familiarize technical experts from the US EPA and ATSDR with the conditions present in homes experiencing premature copper corrosion believed to be associated with the presence of drywall imported from China. On the morning of May 5, 2009 state and federal agency representatives met to discuss technical aspects of testing indoor air of effected homes in the month of June.

May 6, 2009 Krause delivered sample materials to SFM Laboratory (Carl Chasteen) for testing of fire safety.

May 7, 2009 Drywall Sampling Analysis Report (679 KB PDF) - US Environmental Protection Agency

May 8, 2009 DOH posted planning meeting minutes on EM Constellation.

May 8, 2009 Incident Action Plan was posted to EM constellation.

May 13, 2009 State Partners Meeting held to discuss future objectives, recently completed tasks and future objectives.

May 18, 2009 Krause briefed Lori Rowe, Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

May 18, 2009 Tim Wallace, DOH, briefed the CHD Directors/Administrators on a conference call to discuss the fake DOH sticker found on 2 Lee County homes.

May 18, 2009 updated map reporting drywall ‘cases’ by county.

May 19, 2009 issued a press release in Lee County about fraudulent notices being posted on homes.

On May 19, 2009 Dr. David Krause submits written testimony to US Senate.

May 20, 2009 DOH and OAG hosted a conference call for Florida builders to discuss issues relating to drywall remediation.

May 21, 2009 Krause testifies before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation regarding Health and Product Safety Issues Associated with Imported Drywall, in Washington, DC.

May 21, 2009 CPSC sent Senator Nelson a letter regarding Senate hearing.

May 27, 2009 FDOH hosted a day long meeting with representatives from CDC to discuss the need for an epidemiological study on Chinese Drywall exposures. Mike McGeehin, Ph.D.

May 28, 2009 DEP Drywall Interim Disposal Guidance was published.

June 7-10, 2009 DOH conducted testing of two homes in Parkland. (See Attached Report) Results incorporated with EPA testing data into the 10-home study later evaluated and published by CPSC.

June 11, 2009 DCA sent letter to Peterson, Florida resident, at the request of Senator Rhonda Storms.

June 12, 2009DOH posted IAP on EM Constellation.

June 15, 2009 DOH received FDEP asbestos results from FDEP.

June 17, 2009 Krause briefed Lori Rowe and Erick Eikenberg.

June 24, 2009 DOH receives copy of letter from CPSC to Governor Crist.

July 4, 2009 LA Times Article claiming radioactive hazard from Chinese drywall prompted FDOH and CPSC to publish findings of radioactive testing performed earlier. It was decided that additional samples should be analyzed before publishing, initiating tests at the FDOH Radiation Lab and the US EPA Lab. Report finalized and released August 10, 2009 by CPSC.

July 9, 2009 DOH received DEP reports on hazardous waste sample custody and report. Attached are two reports (chemical analysis and leachate report).

July 15, 2009 Krause called into the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Task Force meeting in Washington, DC.

July 15, 2009 Krause and Eldredge represented DOH at an interagency meeting hosted by DoACS pesticides division regarding Sabre Tech, and application of chlorine dioxide as a treatment of homes with corrosion associated with drywall.

July 23, 2009 DOH received CPSC Status Report July 2009.

July 27, 2009 Krause presented at a community meeting in Cape Coral for homeowners.

August 3, 2009 Dr. Ana M. Viamonte Ros, DOH State Surgeon General, responded to Senator Aronberg as to unified command responses to drywall issues.

August 11, 2009 Krause briefed Dave Foy and Shane Strum. August 13, 2009 DCA Secretary responds to Senator Aronberg.

August 31, 2009 IMT demobilizes. DOH recommends Technical Specialist Workgroup to be formed.

September 2, 2009 Krause attended an interagency meeting in Washington, DC, with EPA, CDC, HUD, CPSC, and other state health departments to review EPA test data.

September 3, 2009 Krause briefed Governor’s Office (Foy, Strum, Eikenberg, DCA and DEM representatives)

September 24, 2009 Surgeon General, Siedlecki, and Krause briefed Governor’s Office (Eikenberg, DCA, DBPR)

October 27, 2009 Krause briefed Governor Crist, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor’s Staff prior to CPSC report being released.

October 29, 2009 Krause participated in CPSC phone press conference for 10-home study.

November 5-6, 2009: Florida Department of Health co-hosts the first Technical Symposium on Corrosive Imported Drywall - Presentations and posters are available for free at the Symposium website - Videos of all speakers will be available on the website within the next two weeks. - Approximately 375 people attended the symposium, representing 27 states. - Podium presentations from 23 speakers and 22 technical posters delivered new information on the subject. - Information presented by government and private consultants at this symposium was used to update the case definition for drywall associated corrosion in residences. - This symposium achieved rapid dissemination of technical information on this emerging issue.

November 18, 2009: State Toxicologist sent a letter to Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requesting data from the 51 home study so that a health assessment could be performed by the CDC, EPA, and other state health departments. (As of today, no response from CPSC has been received by Florida DOH.)

December 10, 2009: Florida DOH held a conference call with CDC (Mike McGeehin, Ph.D., Director of the National Centers for Environmental Health) and representatives from the Louisiana and Virginia state health departments. The purpose was to discuss the need for a health assessment. It was concluded that the state departments of health would work through the CDC representative and that he would also request the release of the 51 home study data for the purposes performing a health assessment. (As of 1-8-10, no response from CPSC has been received by CDC.)

December18, 2009: Updated the Florida Department of Health Case Definition for Drywall Associated Corrosion in Residences - Simplified homeowner-level inspection criteria to meet case definition as possible. - Added objective measures using field and laboratory methods to identify corrosive drywall. - Does not increase complexity of assessing a home, but provides alternatives to confirm that drywall in home is truly corrosive. - Solicited comments and input from State and Federal Interagency Work Group (CPSC, EPA, CDC, ATSDR, LA, and VA)

January 6, 2010: SG, COS and Krause brief