Millions of dollars in destruction in the past decade have resulted from the use of Chinese drywall in homes. There are also potential health hazards related to this corrosive material. As such, it is important to find a way to identify Chinese drywall. Drywall can be tested for certain markers, such as strontium, sulfur, and carbonates to identify it as corrosive Chinese drywall. The laboratory preparation and analysis should be efficient and cost effective. The methods previously used, such as an X-ray fluorescence gun have had issues with getting a proper reading due to the layers of other materials found on the drywall, and instruments such as atomic absorption can only test for one metal at a time.
This investigation is beneficial because it uses a novel technique. This experiment focused on developing a method for the ICP-AES, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, which could qualitatively identify the presence of sulfide compounds in drywall. The drywall samples were set up in a natural environment, and the presence of sulfide compounds were tested for with copper coupons. The oxidized copper was then put into an acidic solution, and real time analysis was used to immediately analyze the volatilized sulfide compounds. All of the Chinese drywall samples tested positive for sulfur. This means that this type of analysis can be used to show that drywall containing corrosive sulfide compounds can be positively identified as Chinese drywall.
","abstract_html":"<p>Millions of dollars in destruction in the past decade have resulted from the use of Chinese drywall in homes. There are also potential health hazards related to this corrosive material. As such, it is important to find a way to identify Chinese drywall. Drywall can be tested for certain markers, such as strontium, sulfur, and carbonates to identify it as corrosive Chinese drywall. The laboratory preparation and analysis should be efficient and cost effective. The methods previously used, such as an X-ray fluorescence gun have had issues with getting a proper reading due to the layers of other materials found on the drywall, and instruments such as atomic absorption can only test for one metal at a time. </p> <p>This investigation is beneficial because it uses a novel technique. This experiment focused on developing a method for the ICP-AES, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, which could qualitatively identify the presence of sulfide compounds in drywall. The drywall samples were set up in a natural environment, and the presence of sulfide compounds were tested for with copper coupons. The oxidized copper was then put into an acidic solution, and real time analysis was used to immediately analyze the volatilized sulfide compounds. All of the Chinese drywall samples tested positive for sulfur. This means that this type of analysis can be used to show that drywall containing corrosive sulfide compounds can be positively identified as Chinese drywall. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Parker, Krystal Lynne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Criminal Justice","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kuppareddi Balamurugan","Dean Bertram","Maxwell Bonner"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z","subjects":["Chinese drywall","corrosive drywall","sulfide compounds","off-gassing","ILP-OES","ILP-AES","Chemistry","Forensic Science and Technology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/65","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kuppareddi Balamurugan","Dean Bertram","Maxwell Bonner"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Parker, Krystal Lynne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Criminal Justice"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Chinese drywall","corrosive drywall","sulfide compounds","off-gassing","ILP-OES","ILP-AES","Chemistry","Forensic Science and Technology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/65"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Millions of dollars in destruction in the past decade have resulted from the use of Chinese drywall in homes. There are also potential health hazards related to this corrosive material. As such, it is important to find a way to identify Chinese drywall. Drywall can be tested for certain markers, such as strontium, sulfur, and carbonates to identify it as corrosive Chinese drywall. The laboratory preparation and analysis should be efficient and cost effective. The methods previously used, such as an X-ray fluorescence gun have had issues with getting a proper reading due to the layers of other materials found on the drywall, and instruments such as atomic absorption can only test for one metal at a time.
This investigation is beneficial because it uses a novel technique. This experiment focused on developing a method for the ICP-AES, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, which could qualitatively identify the presence of sulfide compounds in drywall. The drywall samples were set up in a natural environment, and the presence of sulfide compounds were tested for with copper coupons. The oxidized copper was then put into an acidic solution, and real time analysis was used to immediately analyze the volatilized sulfide compounds. All of the Chinese drywall samples tested positive for sulfur. This means that this type of analysis can be used to show that drywall containing corrosive sulfide compounds can be positively identified as Chinese drywall.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Novel Method for Confirming the Presence of Volatile Reduced Sulfide Compounds via Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kuppareddi Balamurugan","Dean Bertram","Maxwell Bonner"],"dc:creator":["Parker, Krystal Lynne"],"dc:date.available":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Millions of dollars in destruction in the past decade have resulted from the use of Chinese drywall in homes. There are also potential health hazards related to this corrosive material. As such, it is important to find a way to identify Chinese drywall. Drywall can be tested for certain markers, such as strontium, sulfur, and carbonates to identify it as corrosive Chinese drywall. The laboratory preparation and analysis should be efficient and cost effective. The methods previously used, such as an X-ray fluorescence gun have had issues with getting a proper reading due to the layers of other materials found on the drywall, and instruments such as atomic absorption can only test for one metal at a time.
This investigation is beneficial because it uses a novel technique. This experiment focused on developing a method for the ICP-AES, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, which could qualitatively identify the presence of sulfide compounds in drywall. The drywall samples were set up in a natural environment, and the presence of sulfide compounds were tested for with copper coupons. The oxidized copper was then put into an acidic solution, and real time analysis was used to immediately analyze the volatilized sulfide compounds. All of the Chinese drywall samples tested positive for sulfur. This means that this type of analysis can be used to show that drywall containing corrosive sulfide compounds can be positively identified as Chinese drywall.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/65"],"dc:subject":["Chinese drywall","corrosive drywall","sulfide compounds","off-gassing","ILP-OES","ILP-AES","Chemistry","Forensic Science and Technology"],"dc:title":["A Novel Method for Confirming the Presence of Volatile Reduced Sulfide Compounds via Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Criminal Justice"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z"}