FEMA Suppressed Health Warnings for Workers, Katrina Victims

In May, FEMA said its own tests of 96 new trailers near Baton Rouge last September and October found formaldehyde at 1.2 parts per million, but levels dropped to 0.3 parts per million after four days of ventilation. FEMA said that is the accepted threshold used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for its manufactured homes.

But Mary C. DeVany, an occupational health and safety engineer advising the Sierra Club, testified that that exposure limit of 0.3 parts per million is 400 times greater than the normal limit for year-round exposure set by the CDC-affiliated Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register. It is also three times the daily exposure limit recommended by the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health, she said.

"This misapplication and skewing of scientific results is at best unethical and grossly misrepresents and attempt to minimize the adverse health effects being experienced by thousands of travel trailer residents," DeVany said.

High levels of formaldehyde were still found in nearly all trailers sampled, whether continuously ventilated or air conditioned, DeVany said.

She called on FEMA to relocate without delay people living in trailers with levels above 0.05 parts per million and not to turn over any trailers for re-use without testing.

Formaldehyde is a common wood preservative used in construction materials such as particle board, plywood, glue, curtains, molded plastic and countertops.

The chemical can cause vision and respiratory problems. It has been linked to higher rates of asthma, bronchitis and allergies in children with long-term exposure.

The committee reported that FEMA has tested only one occupied trailer, in March 2006, finding formaldehyde levels 75 times higher than the maximum workplace exposure level recommended by NIOSH. But without further testing, FEMA issued a statement that May saying, "We are confident that there is no ongoing risk."

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) also cited e-mails that indicated that FEMA lawyers counseled against acting on recommendations made by a conference call of 28 officials from six agencies into the June 2006 death of a trailer occupant in Slidell, La., that may have been formaldehyde-related.

Paulison today claimed that FEMA recognized only this summer that its ventilation recommendation was impractical in the Gulf coast's heat and humidity, although it issued the advice last summer.

He added that FEMA was also concerned that there was not enough housing in Louisiana and Mississippi to move people out of trailers, which he called the agency's only tool in an unprecedented emergency housing crisis.

In a letter to Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) that month, CDC Director Julie Louis Gerberding wrote that her agency recognized residents' symptoms but said the effects of formaldehyde "are likely to be transient."

At a congressional hearing earlier this year, Paulison said, "We've told people they can air those trailers out," guidance the agency has formally issued to trailer residents.

Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Ind.) defended trailer manufacturers at today's hearing and said that reports of illness remained anecdotal and isolated pending further study, which he supported.

"You can't hang an industry on one case where they checked it," Souder said. "We have some individuals, we have 177 formaldehyde complaints out of 100,000? . . . A sweeping statement doesn't cut it, there needs to be actual checking and measurement."

Three trailer residents who testified before the panel described frequent nosebleeds, respiratory problems and mysterious mouth and nasal tumors that they or family members had suffered. They also said veterinarians and pediatricians had warned that their pets and children may be experiencing formaldehyde-related symptoms.

"What makes me so angry is that FEMA is providing trailers to disaster victims that they have 'inspected' and deemed safe without truly ensuring that they are," said Lindsay Huckabee, a mother of five from Pass Christian, Miss., who now lives in a trailer in nearby Kiln.

"We have lost a great deal through our dealings with FEMA, not the least of which is our faith in government," said Paul Stewart, a former Army officer in Mississippi.