Toxic FEMA Trailers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency will
step up efforts to move Gulf Coast hurricane victims out of more
than 35,000 trailers now that tests on some of those trailers
indicate possibly high levels of formaldehyde, the agency's chief
said Thursday.
David Paulison made the announcement at an afternoon news
conference, after the Centers for Disease Control said fumes from
519 tested s and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were -
on average - about five times what people are exposed to in most
modern homes.
In Louisiana, there are 25,162 occupied FEMA trailers. In
Mississippi, there are 10,362, according to FEMA figures. Other
state also have hundreds of trailers. At one time, FEMA had placed
victims of the 2005 hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, in more than
144,000 trailers and mobile homes.
Paulison and Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, said
they hope to get people everyone out of the trailers before the
warm summer months, when heat and a lack of ventilation in the
trailers could make formaldehyde accumulations worse.
Trailer occupants will be moved to apartments or hotels. If
necessary sturdier mobile homes - pre-tested for formaldehyde -
will be used, he said.
"The real issue is not what it will cost but how fast we can
move people out," Paulison said.
Paulison also said FEMA would never again use travel trailers to
house disaster victims but may continue to use larger, better
constructed mobile homes.
Commonly used in manufactured homes, formaldehyde can cause
respiratory problems and has been classified as a carcinogen by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable
carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
While there are no federal safety standards for formaldehyde
fumes in homes, the levels found in the trailers are high enough to
cause burning eyes and breathing problems for people who have
asthma or sensitivity to air pollutants, Mike McGeehin, director of
a CDC division that focuses on environmental hazards said prior to
the news conference.
Gerberding said the levels of formaldehyde in the tested
trailers varied widely. Some levels were low. In some trailers, the
level would be enough to cause breathing problems for children, the
elderly or people who already have respiratory problems. About 5
percent had levels that could cause problems for people who do not
ordinarily have respiratory problems, she said.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)