TUESDAY MARCH 4, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) – The formaldehyde level in the trailers assigned by the US government to Gulf Coast hurricane survivors vary greatly from brand to brand and four of the six most commonly used brands have the highest levels of the cancer-causing agent, the Associated Press reported citing a federal study released Monday.
Earlier, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report saying that test results showed formaldehyde in the travel trailers and mobile homes was on average five times higher than the level found in most modern homes, but the agency did not release brand-specific information at the time.
Now the CDC said air samples from trailers manufactured by Gulf Stream, Keystone, Pilgrim and Forest River contained formaldehyde at the level four times higher than what is found in newer U.S. homes.
The CDC study based on fume samples from 519 trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi showed the average level of formaldehyde in these trailers was about five times what people are exposed to in most modern housing facilities. In some trailers, formaldehyde was up to 40 times customary exposure levels.
The average level of formaldehyde in sampled air was 77 parts per billion or ppb, significantly higher than the level found in newer homes 10 to 17 ppb. The highest levels were up to 590 ppb.
According to the latest CDC report, Pilgrim-brand travel trailers contained the highest level, on average 108 ppb, followed by Gulf Stream (103 ppb), Keystone (102 ppb) and Forest River (85 ppb).
Gulf Stream is the most commonly used brand with more than 14,600 out of the FEMA's nearly 47,000 trailers, park models and mobile homes. Forest River is the second commonly used brand with 3,200 trailers.
The lowest level of formaldehyde was found in Brands Fleetwood and Fleetwood CA, 39 and 42 ppb respectively. All other brands contained an average of 73 ppb.
The CDC study showed formaldehyde levels in park models and mobile homes were lower than that found in travel trailers.
Early, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said these trailers were manufactured in accordance with the industrial standards and dismissed reports from the residents and environmental groups saying that formaldehyde levels in the trailers were so high that the government should do something about it.
Formaldehyde can acutely cause irritation to the lungs and long-term exposure to even low levels could raise the cancer risk. But no risk assessment has been made in the residents who have lived in the trailers since Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005.
The FEMA later responded to the CDC study and started moving residents out of 35,000 of the potentially harmful trailers, with priority given to children, elderly people and those who were ill or have health conditions. And the agency expected to complete the moving before the summer as high temperature would accelerate the releasing for formaldehyde from the building material.
