Despite being made aware of the problem two years ago, Congress and federal regulators have failed to address major problems caused by tainted drywall imported from China, a Florida woman told lawmakers yesterday.

At issue is millions of pounds of possibly toxic drywall that was used in thousands of homes in the country's housing boom and during the reconstruction of Gulf Coast homes following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The drywall, most of which was imported from China, has led to health problems such as respiratory disorders and has caused corrosion in electrical systems and appliances throughout the homes.

But Brenda Brincku, a Florida resident who has been forced out of her home because of the drywall, said the government has failed to step in and help.

"Federal regulators have dropped the ball," Brincku said in emotional testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance. "We have been completely ignored."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received approximately 4,000 complaints related to the drywall from 43 states. Lawmakers estimate that the drywall was used in approximately 8,000 homes.

But despite studying the problem, CPSC has not issued a recall of the product.

Brincku described what she called a "nightmare" when her family learned that their home in Alva, Fla., was making them sick three years ago. Unlike many others, her drywall came from an American manufacturer, but the problem has still sent her family into bankruptcy and ruined their credit.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said that in his 20 years of working in government, "I can't think of a more frustrating issue that I've been involved with than this drywall."

"These families' lives have been devastated for several years," he added, "and these families continue to get ping-ponged from one [government] entity to another."

Neil Cohen, CPSC's Small Business ombudsman, listed the several steps the agency has taken to address the issue. CPSC analyzed the drywall to see what chemicals were being emitted from it. It also conducted indoor air testing on homes built or renovated with the suspected drywall. The agency then looked at corroded household components that were exposed to the material and tested new components in a corrosive environment that included the tainted product.

Yet, CPSC did not find conclusive evidence of a health threat from those studies, Cohen said.

"The concentrations of individual chemicals found in the homes were below levels where health effects have been reported in the toxicology literature and did not provide the CPSC with enough evidence to determine that a substantial or imminent product hazard or significant injury or illness occurs due to problem drywall," Cohen said.

Christopher Portier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said his agency also found that the drywall emitted low levels of reactive sulfur gases, including hydrogen sulfide and carbonyl sulfide.

"The levels measured inside homes with contaminated drywall were below levels linked to human health effects as demonstrated in the scientific literature," Portier said.

Senators expressed their frustration throughout the hearing. The full committee held a hearing on the issue in May 2009, but senators indicated little progress has been made since then.

"We've run into some brick walls ourselves," said subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the panel's ranking member, said Brincku's story was "heart breaking," and he pressed Portier and Cohen about why a causal connection between the drywall and health problems has yet to be established, saying it "perplexes and confuses" him.

"You're not suggesting that the health issues are not there?" Wicker asked Portier.

"I'm not suggesting that at all," Portier responded. "We're not suggesting that they don't exist. We haven't been able to explain them with the low levels of emissions."

Portier also acknowledged, though, that he would not move his family into a home containing the drywall.

Cohen emphasized that CPSC has tried to have discussions with its counterpart in China. Additionally, CPSC has sought to make the issue a priority for the State Department in an attempt to put pressure on the Chinese manufacturer.

"We have pushed and pushed," Cohen said. "To date, there has been no response from the Chinese manufacturer. ... They don't see a problem with their drywall."

The senators highlighted legislation Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced yesterday that would require foreign manufacturers of products imported to the United States to establish "registered agents" in the United States who are authorized to address product problems.

Wicker indicated it was time to hold Chinese manufacturers accountable.

"China benefits immensely from trade with the United States," he said. "It's time for Chinese manufacturers to step forward."

The main issue going forward, said Bill Shelton of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, is how to fix the problem homes.

"How would you remediate this problem?" he asked the panel. "We were very anxious to get the answer because everyone was stuck in neutral without a remediation standard."

Virginia has adopted such a standard and put it into its building code. However, the cost of remediation is a major problem.

Shelton estimates ripping out tainted drywall and replacing it -- and everything it has corroded -- would cost between $30 and $50 per square foot.

After doing some quick math and applying that standard to approximately 8,000 affected homes, Wicker said that would cost at least half-a-billion dollars.

"We believe there needs to be more response," Shelton said. "It needs to be similar to a disaster response."