CDC postpones air-quality testing of FEMA trailers

[Guest guest]

CDC postpones air-quality testing of FEMA trailers

Clarion Ledger - ,MS*

By Ana Radelat

The Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20071102/NEWS/711020362

FAST FACTS

There are still 14,192 occupied FEMA travel trailers and mobile

homes in Mississippi and 35,141 units in Louisiana, according to the

federal agency.

WASHINGTON — Plans to begin testing the air quality of Federal

Emergency Management Agency trailers that house thousands of

Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi were abruptly postponed

Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many trailer and mobile home residents have complained of health

issues resulting from high levels of formaldehyde in the units.

The CDC planned to begin testing the air quality of about 150 travel

trailers and mobile homes in the state today. But CDC spokesman

Green said plans to randomly test the units have been

postponed for " a short while, " probably about two weeks. He did not

give a reason for the delay.

Green said the CDC would try to test all makes and models. The

agency began calling hurricane victims in Mississippi this week to

get permission for the testing, he said.

After the Mississippi testing is completed, the agency plans to test

about 150 trailers in Louisiana.

Green said CDC statisticians told him randomly testing 300 trailers

would be enough to help the agency determine if any of the thousands

of trailers that have housed hurricane victims pose health threats.

Formaldehyde is a toxic chemical released by many construction

materials, including plywood and spray-on insulating foam. It is

also a naturally occurring chemical. Elevated levels of formaldehyde

gas can cause headaches, burning in the eyes and throat, nausea and

difficulty breathing. Formaldehyde is also a suspected carcinogen.

The CDC testing is coming almost four months after FEMA asked the

Atlanta-based agency to test the trailers. SRA-Constella Inc. of

Fairfax, Va., will conduct the tests. Some of the thousands of

Katrina victims who still live in the units say the testing plans

are inadequate and come too late.

ph Carmouche, 81, has lived in a FEMA mobile home in Kiln since

December 2005. He said his emphysema worsened after moving into the

unit, which replaced his former home - also a mobile home - that was

destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

He said his wife Daisy, 75, developed asthma and a rash and worries

the ailments are caused by elevated levels of formaldehyde in their

home.

Carmouche is concerned the CDC's plans to selectively test trailers

won't help people like him.

" How are we going to know if they don't test our homes? " he said.

A testing kit supplied by the Sierra Club showed slightly elevated

levels of formaldehyde in Carmouche's home, he said.

Kizziah, 65, of Biloxi suspects his FEMA trailer caused his

pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed in August and is often fatal.

Kizziah said he doesn't need the CDC to test his trailer because he

knows it's dangerous. He said a Sierra Club test of his trailer

revealed the formaldehyde gas in his home is two to three times the

level considered safe.

He hopes FEMA sends him the new trailer it promised. But he also

wants the agency to know the temporary home it gave him shortly

after Katrina poses a health hazard.

" I know it's dangerous, but I don't know (FEMA) will accept a do-

your-own test as proof, " He said.

As part of the agency's efforts to determine whether the travel

trailers and mobile homes are dangerous, the CDC tested 50

unoccupied units housed in Purvis last month.

Green said the tests revealed formaldehyde levels ranging from low

to high.

" It was pretty much all over the place, " he said.

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Contact Ana Radelat at aradelat@...

[Guest guest]

Maybe they could bake the trailers to get the formaldehyde out!?

I bet heat would drive the VOCS out of them if it was done well. They could

drive the trailers to some VERY hot and dry spot and just park them there

for a while with fans running inside?