
Monday, November 17, 2008
Formaldehyde in FEMA travel trailers making people sick
Some travel trailers issued to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are emitting potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde, an industrial chemical used in their manufacture which some residents say is making them sick.In Mississippi alone, FEMA has received 46 complaints from people who say they have been affected by symptoms of formaldehyde exposure, including eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea and breathing difficulties. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, formaldehyde has been found to cause cancer in rats and may cause cancer in humans.
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What do you suppose FEMA is doing about it? First off, they really don’t think it’s a
problem in the first place.“It’s the ‘new car smell,’” said Charles Powell, who has been with Beaumont’s [Texas] FEMA office since October, adding he isn’t aware of any complaints about the air quality in their travel trailers. — Beaumont Enterprise
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For the next several months, FEMA recommends that people in travel trailers air out the trailer frequently, use air conditioning and dehumidifiers, and not smoke in the trailers.
old news, but hey, i dont see any government organisation trying to improve the situation.
Escaped
{11:53 am}