FEMA admits high formaldehyde levels in travel trailers
The us Federal Emergency Manag-ement Agency (fema) has admitted high levels of formaldehyde in travel trailers and mobile homes the government provided as emergency housing in the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the region in 2005.
The us Environmental Protection Agency classifies formaldehyde as a probable carcinogen.
Tests by the nation's top health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently confirmed the presence of the chemical in the fema- supplied travel trailers.
Following this, fema is now hastening to move people out of 35,000 trailers, housing about 144,000 people. They would be moved to hotels, motels and Katrina cottages, said fema administrator David Paulison.