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Formaldehyde: FEMA do good? Or FEMA done bad?

By Megan Roth

In my previous post, I wrote about Victoria’s Secret’s latest controversy, and it doesn’t revolve around the risqué lingerie. Nor is it related to the scantily-clad ‘angels’ looking emaciated (just for the record, I don’t think the majority of them do…in fact, I’d say Victoria’s Secret has some of the most beautiful, natural looking models out here – but that’s neither here nor there).

Instead of the normal controversies surrounding the heavenly superstore, this one strikes on a deeper level. A lawsuit has been raised concerning the presence of formaldehyde in some of the bras manufactured and distributed by the corporation (heck, Victoria's Secret would probably rather be dealing with the standard publicity issues).

Seems bad, right? And it is. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. However, wouldn’t it be worse to find out that formaldehyde was in more than your new push-up bra? What if you found out formaldehyde was present in your home.

If you did, you’d be one among many. Two and a half years ago, controversy arose when the Sierra Club pointed fingers and called the trailers provided by FEMA “toxic tin cans.” Why the blame game? Because in the last couple of years, many of the trailer homes provided to victims of natural disasters biy FEMA have tested positive for formaldehyde.

How’s that for scary? In an effort to provide relief to such individuals, FEMA was also providing a first-rate dose of a chemical known for its damaging health effects. Fact: air quality tests of 44 FEMA-supplied trailers tested positive for formaldehyde in concentrations as high as .34 parts per million. Alright, perhaps the name calling was legit…at least it got a point across.

Just last summer, FEMA received 206 complaints (related to formaldehyde) stemming from the 120,000 trailers and mobile homes that were provided to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency was quick to react; they replaced questionable trailers with those that had already been properly ventilated and they supplied information explaining the potential effects formaldehyde may have.

This was a year and a half ago. So what’s the status now? Well, a few of you may have heard (I hope all of you have heard, but I’m realistic), Iowa was struck by a national disaster at the start of this past summer. The flooding destroyed much of Eastern Iowa, and left thousands without homes. (Du-du-nuh) In comes FEMA to the rescue. Similar to Katrina, they supplied hundreds of FEMA trailers as temporary housing for those left with little or nothing.

But in October, numerous individuals living in those trailers began complaining of health issues – itchy eyes, respiratory issues, and migraines to name a few. Local news stations investigated and discovered that (of the 20 trailers they evaluated), all had levels of formaldehyde in excess of the safety level set by FEMA itself. Now that’s interesting…

Even more interesting was FEMA’s reaction: they admitted that certain trailers showed levels that were higher than what is acceptable (of course they did – it’s pretty tough to dispute the cold, hard facts when their substantiated by scientific evidence); however, they avoided phone calls and defended their own tests.

FEMA implied the health issues and high levels of formaldehyde were the fault of the individuals occupying those trailers and a representative of the organization stated: “you must account for the variables that could influence your results.”

We agree wholeheartedly with that statement; it’s listing ‘cooking’ as a drastic influential factor that we don’t agree with. Granted, cooking may produce minor amounts of formaldehyde; however, those traces certainly aren’t drastic enough to rise above the level of safety.

Come on, now – get real with us, FEMA. Some might buy what your representatives are saying; however, KGAN’s tests (which showed that six of FEMA’s trailers had levels of formaldehyde exceeding the EPA’s limits (which are even more stringent than FEMA’s)) suggest people should believe otherwise.

And many do – perhaps this explains why approximately 200 Iowa families have moved out of FEMA housing within the last month-and-a-half. Where are they going? It’s tough to say, but anywhere’s got to be better than living in an establishment that’s making you sick.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on December 04, 2008 (boomark / email).