The Associated Press State & Local Wire
February 23, 2008 Saturday 10:00 PM GMT
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
Residents of FEMA trailers who want their units tested for
formaldehyde will have that opportunity.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a news release Friday,
said it would open up the testing program to those living in federally
supplied trailers and mobile homes along the Gulf Coast, and also
those in federally declared disaster areas in Arkansas, California,
Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma
and Pennsylvania.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
said fumes from 519 tested trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and
Mississippi were, on average, about five times what people are exposed
to in most modern homes.
Formaldehyde is a preservative commonly used in construction
materials; it can lead to breathing problems and is also believed to
cause cancer.
FEMA said testing could begin as early as this coming week and would
begin with residents on the Gulf Coast who have already requested
testing.
About 200 trailers and mobile homes would be tested each week, FEMA
said. The contract to do the testing went to Bureau Veritas, which
also did the recent testing of the 519 units, according to FEMA.
Since FEMA and the CDC announced the early testing results, FEMA said
Friday its formaldehyde hotline had logged more than 1,900 calls from
along the Gulf Coast and that 334 of those requested testing.
Households had been offered immediate moves to a hotel or motel, and
285 had accepted that, FEMA said Friday. Eighty-two others had moved
into alternative long-term housing, 133 had refused all options and
the rest were weighing their options, FEMA said. |