Is drywall harmful? The composition and environmental friendliness of the material

Having decided to update the interior of our apartment, we go in search of suitable building materials. Today, drywall is at the peak of its popularity; it is used to create ceiling structures, wall cladding, slopes, interior partitions, niches, portals, arches. This material has earned popular love due to the possibility of creating with its help a perfectly flat surface, ready for finishing, while it takes very little time and effort to install drywall sheets. However, there is an opinion that drywall is unhealthy, and we decided to find out if this is so.

What exactly is drywall?

In order to assess the risk drywall, you should first understand what is included in its composition:

The key element of this sought-after building material is gypsum. In fact, it is an absolutely natural, natural material that was previously burned at a high temperature and then ground. It is safe for people and the environment, has zero radioactivity.
In small quantities, PVA can be found in drywall, as well as starch. As you can see, both of these elements are absolutely harmless.
The hardened gypsum core is pressed between two cardboard sheets. So the wrapping of our material is not dangerous.

The described composition refers to standard drywall, which has a gray shell color and is most often used in living rooms. As you can see, there are no complaints about the composition of the material regarding safety and environmental friendliness.

There are also several more varieties of drywall: moisture and fire resistant. They have a slightly different composition, because they contain special additives. Hydrophobic additives are present in the core of moisture-resistant drywall, and the gypsum core of the fire-resistant material is reinforced with glass fibers, contains crystallized water and refractory elements. Each of the additives and impregnations used undergoes the strictest quality and safety control.

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What is the value of this material?

The answer to the question of whether drywall is harmful can only be in the affirmative in case of gross violations of the production process. Namely, when the manufacturer uses substandard, substances and additives with unverified properties. Quite often, unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers, working not for quality, but for a super-low price, add formaldehyde or phenol to the composition of drywall.

You can protect yourself only by purchasing materials from trusted suppliers, as well as by mandatory verification of quality certificates and conclusions of the relevant services.

Possible health hazards when working with drywall

In addition to the direct harm to health described above, drywall can also cause it indirectly:

Any kind of work performed with the use of this material is associated with its sharp, as well as the dust emitted during its implementation. Its inhalation can lead to irritation of the mucous membranes, the occurrence of allergic reactions. Therefore, when working with drywall, it is recommended to use protective masks and goggles that protect the organs of vision and breathing during cutting, and carefully collect all the accumulated dust with a vacuum cleaner, and not sweep it away.

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Use of material for other purposes. If ordinary drywall was used to finish the walls in a room with high humidity, then when moisture enters, a favorable environment for the reproduction of fungi, mold and pathogens arises. In addition to an unpleasant smell, their active reproduction can significantly harm the health of all people in the room.
If window slopes are made of ordinary drywall sheets, then the accumulated condensate can lead to the same consequences that are described just above.Therefore, we advise you to use either a moisture-resistant material for these purposes, or to perform a mandatory treatment with a fungicidal agent.

Recommendations for choosing drywall

Use the advice of experienced builders when planning and carrying out repair and finishing work using drywall sheets:

Consider the core of the drywall sheet, its shade should be as close to white as possible. Gray, pink or other colors indicate not the best quality of the material.
The texture of the core of the material should be uniform and not peel off from the cardboard wrapper.
The cardboard shell itself must be even, without delaminations, swellings and similar defects, and its thickness must be uniform.
Based on the characteristics of the room in which you plan to use drywall, choose the right type of it.

Before you make a purchase, make sure you have all the necessary certificates.
Keep an eye on the storage conditions of the stock of sheets, give them some time to acclimatize.
Perform the installation of the material strictly according to the technology.
Use special devices for eye and respiratory protection.

Using our advice correctly, you can choose the right material for your own needs, prevent its negative impact, and protect yourself and your loved ones.

Irina

I bought a small apartment where the drywall walls were covered in black fungus. I treated them several times with various antiseptics (to be sure), plastered them with mastic on wood, painted over with enamel, and then the master made plastic panels on top of them. I don’t know what’s going on inside now, and I live like that. But in my room there seems to be the smell of the forest.

Answer

Igor

I also repeatedly wondered whether drywall is harmful, even with my wife argued about this. After talking with the builders who made repairs in our bedroom, we came to the conclusion that this material is completely safe for the health of both adults and children, non-allergenic, and does not contain any harmful impurities. This article only confirms the words of the builders.