(nytjournalism) When Stephen Guerra checked the back side of drywall in his 72-year-old mother’s newly renovated home and found that it had been made in China, the mysterious smells and rusted metals in the house suddenly made sense to him. Guerra’s discovery explained the periodic smell of rotten eggs in the home, the spots of rust covering the metal clock in the bathroom — and perhaps his mother’s illnesses, including a recurring rash that she and her other son, Paul, suffer from. His mother, Darlyn Guerra, said she also has a corneal ulcer and that even her 5-year-old white Maltese dog, Itsy, has been suffering from a rash since moving into the home, in the Upper Lake Shore area of New Orleans. Across Lake Pontchartrain in a quiet Covington, La., development, Raymond Hickey, 86, and his wife, Elizabeth, 85, are still waiting for results of home inspections done a month ago by several agencies, including the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. “They said they’ll contact us,” Mr. Hickey said. The interior walls of their 3-year-old home are now marred by 4-by-6-inch holes cut by the inspectors. The Hickeys said they already know what the inspection will show. Since moving into their home, completed in 2006, they have seen electrical cords short out, metal bathroom pipes split open and metal fixtures in the bathroom quickly tarnish and rust, and they’ve both suffered from sinus infections. If the Hickeys’ suspicions prove right, their home, like Guerra’s, has drywall - the manufactured sheets of plaster used for ceilings and walls - that has been releasing sulfur dioxide gas. (see related story...http://abcnews.go.com/Business/RealtyCheck/Story?id=7637590&page=1)

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