CDC Finds Elevated Formaldehyde Levels in FEMA Trailers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found formaldehyde levels ranging from 3 to 590 parts per billion (ppb) in trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Americans displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.CDC found an average formaldehyde concentration of 77 ppb, compared with 10 to 30 ppb in typical indoor environments. These levels are high enough to pose health concerns—especially for elderly people, children, and those with asthma—and CDC encourages residents of the 34,000 trailers still in use along the Gulf Coast to move to safer housing as soon as possible.The findings, based on tests performed in December 2007 and January 2008 and published in an interim report, likely under-represent long-term exposures, since formaldehyde levels tend to be higher in newer trailers and during warmer months. More information is online at www.cdc.gov/Features/FEMAtrailersFindings/. For more on formaldehyde and FEMA trailers, see EBN

Vol. 16, No. 9.