CDC: Gulf Coast Trailers Have Toxic Air

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CDC: Gulf Coast Trailers Have Toxic Air

The Associated Press*

By MIKE STOBBE

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuGq6yeUvlwsIsXQiT3Qx23gcpswD8UQ1V

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ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. health officials are urging that Gulf Coast

hurricane victims be moved out of their government-issued trailers

as quickly as possible after tests found toxic levels of

formaldehyde fumes.

Fumes from 519 trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi

were — on average — about five times what people are exposed to in

most modern homes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times

customary exposure levels, raising fears that residents could

contract respiratory problems.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency — which supplied the

trailers — should move people out quickly, with priority given to

families with children, elderly people or anyone with asthma or

other chronic conditions, said Mike McGeehin, director of a CDC

division that focuses on environmental hazards.

" We do not want people exposed to this for very much longer, "

McGeehin said.

While there are no federal safety standard 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, said McGeehin.

CDC officials said the study did not prove people became sick from

the fumes, but merely took a snapshot reading of fume levels. Only

formaldehyde was tested, they added.

FEMA provided about 120,000 travel trailers to victims of the 2005

hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2006, some occupants began reporting

headaches and nosebleeds.

The complaints were linked to formaldehyde, a colorless gas with a

pungent smell used in the production of plywood and resins.

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.

Last May, FEMA officials dismissed findings by environmentalists

that the trailers posed serious health risks. They said the trailers

conformed to industry standards.

By August, about 1,000 families in Louisiana asked FEMA to move them

to other quarters. In November, lawyers for a group of hurricane

victims asked a federal judge to order FEMA to test for hazardous

fumes.

The CDC, working with FEMA, hired a contractor. The firm — Bureau

Veritas North America — tested air samples from 358 travel trailers,

82 park model and 79 mobile homes.

Analysis of the samples, taken from Dec. 21 through Jan. 23, came

back last week, McGeehin said.

They found average levels of 77 parts formaldehyde per billion parts

of air, significantly higher than the 10 to 17 parts per billion

concentration seen in newer homes. Levels were as high as 590 parts

per billion.

The highest concentrations were in travel trailers, which are

smaller and more poorly ventilated, McGeehin said.

Indoor air temperature was a significant factor in raising

formaldehyde levels, independent of trailer make or model, CDC

officials said. McGeehin said that's why the CDC would like

residents out before summer.

A broader-based children's health study is also in the works,

McGeehin said.

Last week, congressional Democrats accused FEMA of manipulating

scientific research in order to play down the danger posed by

formaldehyde in the trailers.

In its initial round of testing, FEMA took samples from unoccupied

trailers that had been aired out for days and compared them with

federal standards for short-term exposure, according to the

lawmakers.

Legislators also said the CDC ignored research from — and then

demoted — one of its own experts, who concluded any level of

exposure to formaldehyde may pose a cancer risk. A CDC spokesman has

denied the allegations.