Safety Lapses Raised Risks In Trailers for Katrina Victims

Nicole Esposito says her daughters Alyssa, 16 months, above, and Alexa, 4, developed health problems while the family lived in a FEMA trailer. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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Brian Delaney, a Gulf Stream spokesman, said he could not respond to questions, citing in part litigation. Among other companies whose trailers tested high in the CDC study, Keystone RV declined to comment. Forest River referred questions to the industry's trade group, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.

Dave Hoefer Sr., chairman of Pilgrim International, said the pending lawsuits limited what he could say, but he pointed out that FEMA specifications prompted his company to put in fewer sidewall openings than usual, which may have restricted ventilation. He said his company had never received a complaint about formaldehyde and used its usual materials to build Katrina trailers.

An industry association spokesman, Robert Feldman, said symptoms may be caused by mold, Katrina-related chemical spills, smoking or local climate factors. "There may be a rush to conclude formaldehyde is the issue when in fact the results seem to suggest the answer is a little more complex," he said.

However, others said that in 2005 and 2006, much of the nation's hardwood plywood came from Asia and was high in formaldehyde. China's share of the North American market has grown from 4 percent to nearly 40 percent since 2001, according to the Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association, which represents North American producers.

"The most likely source of formaldehyde in the Katrina trailers and in all travel trailers are composite wood products . . . [and] the most likely source for those materials are imported products," primarily from China, said Elizabeth Whalen, director of corporate sustainability for Columbia Forest Products, of Portland, Ore., the association's largest U.S. plywood manufacturer.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) demanded a U.S. trade investigation after domestic producers complained in 2006 that containers of imported hardwood plywood reeked of formaldehyde, products advertised as having low formaldehyde emissions were falsely labeled and sample tests showed levels much higher than allowed in federal housing.

"There's no real enforcement authority by the government," said Gail Overgard, vice president of Timber Products in Springfield, Ore.

Little Regulation

No binding safety standard exists for formaldehyde in any U.S. homes, even though the chemical was classified as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization in 2004 and is deemed a probable carcinogen by the U.S. government.

But early this year, the CDC reported that 41 percent of the trailers it tested in December and January had levels of formaldehyde greater than 100 parts per billion, the level that the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends as safe for 15 minutes of exposure by workers.

California health regulators estimate that lifetime exposure to formaldehyde at 100 parts per billion increases cancer risk by 50 cases per 100,000 people.

"Even at levels too low to cause . . . symptoms, there could be an increased risk of cancer," the CDC reported in February. Because the tests were done in winter, they understated exposure levels during warmer months, the agency said.

J. Joe Donaldson, president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that "pediatricians along the Gulf Coast . . . all reported epidemic problems with asthma and respiratory symptoms . . . covering the time of the hurricane, and, although it's diminished over time, it's ongoing. I personally believe that formaldehyde did play a significant part in the problem."

Despite its hazards, the chemical's presence in homes has largely escaped regulation. In 1985, after consumer complaints and lawsuits, Washington imposed a limit on the amount of formaldehyde emitted by plywood and particleboard in mobile homes -- but did not restrict how much of that wood can be used.

The Housing and Urban Development office that enforces those rules has a small budget of $6 million and a staff of 13 based only at headquarters. Robert Wilden, who directed the office in the 1980s and 1990s, said in an interview that while the industry "benefits from minimal regulation," it lobbied for cuts in the office's budget.

When HUD set the formaldehyde limit for wood in mobile homes 23 years ago, it said it anticipated that the resulting ambient air levels would be less than 400 parts per billion, or quadruple what the CDC says is problematic. The RV industry association points out that, according to the CDC tests over the winter, levels in 99 percent of the Katrina trailers fell below that threshold.

The use of formaldehyde in trailers is unregulated because they are considered vehicles, not homes, and because their makers say they are typically used a few days at a time, a few times a year.

"The RV industry is generally unregulated, and lobbying efforts have succeeded in keeping it that way," said Connie Gallant, head of the RV Consumer Group, which represents trailer owners.

California regulators recently enacted the nation's tightest formaldehyde limits on wood products, setting limits 60 percent below HUD standards by next year and 75 percent below by 2011. The rules are expected to become a de facto national standard.

FEMA, meanwhile, has barred the future use of trailers, and required that mobile home builders use wood that emits virtually no formaldehyde. The RV industry has embraced HUD and California standards.

FEMA has relocated more than 4,000 families after receiving 11,000 health complaints, but about 22,000 of its trailers remain occupied despite a CDC recommendation that all residents be moved to safer housing. As of May 1, more than 3,000 mobile homes were still occupied.

Paulison said that in the absence of a legally binding safety standard for residential air quality, FEMA will do the best it can in providing disaster housing. But, he complained, "There is no national standard for formaldehyde levels in American homes -- not conventional . . . homes, not [mobile] homes."

Staff researchers Madonna Lebling and Julie Tate contributed to this report.