The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has recommended homeowners to strip buildings of Chinese drywall that could corrode electric wiring and gas pipes, putting safety at risk.

The consumer watchdog said that Chinese drywall (plasterboard) required to be exterminated as emitted dangerous levels of sulfur that could corrode internal fittings such as electrical wiring, circuit breakers and fire alarm systems.

Speaking on the topic, CPSC chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum said, “We want families to tear it all out and rebuild the interior of their homes, and they need to start this to get their lives started all over again.”

There have been more than three thousand complaints about dangerous drywall and most of them emerged from Florida, Virginia and Mississippi.

Some homeowners also complained that they had suffered health-related problems such as nose-bleedings and headaches due to the product.

More than two thousand homeowners have dragged Chinese manufacturers and US firms that sold the drywall to court in New Orleans, claiming damages.

Large quantities of the Chinese drywall were imported during the housing boom.