Monday, August 21, 2006
FEMA AND EPA TESTING TRAILERS FOR FORMALDEHYDE
RV Business
Monday, August 21, 2006
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an Aug. 21 article by Elkhart Truth reporter Marilyn Odendahl examining the use of formaldehyde in travel trailers supplied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for relief efforts. A study conducted by the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club, a high-profile environmentalist group, allegedly showed high levels in some emergency units that may have caused illnesses among residents. The testing prompted a class action suit against FEMA and several RV OEMs. Recently, FEMA announced that it would be conducting its own testing for formaldehyde in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The validity of the Sierra Club’s testing has also come into question.
Tending to the steady stream of youngsters who tramp in the office with colds and sinus infections forms the heart of Dr. Scott Needle's pediatric practice in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary. Just prescribe some bed rest and maybe a dose of antibiotics.
But in a town that practically took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, some of the little tikes that have battled colds that lasted longer or that have returned after the medicine bottle was empty.
Needle began noticing a subtle pattern that all the children with these chronic respiratory illnesses were living with their families in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Colleagues and parents suggested formaldehyde as the cause of his young patients' maladies and then Needle was given a set of test results which indicated the air inside a sample of those units contained elevated levels of the chemical.
"At this point, (formaldehyde) is what I'm suspecting the most," said Needle. "I can't say for sure."
Indeed no one can say for sure that formaldehyde is the culprit behind the illnesses many Gulf Coast residents are experiencing in the aftermath of the series of 2005 hurricanes which left many homeless and the region devastated.
The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club has been using off-the-shelf devices to test the indoor air quality of the FEMA trailers and has recorded consistently high readings of formaldehyde.
Now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to examine some of the trailers being used as temporary housing. The federal agency issued the following statement about the test: "Although EPA does not regulate indoor air, a provision in the Stafford Act allows FEMA to ask us for help in this matter. EPA is currently working with FEMA to develop a sampling plan. Once EPA has collected the samples, the agency will send the results to an independent lab and have no further involvement."
EPA spokesman Dale Kemery would not discuss the details of the procedure, declining to answer when the tests would start, what method would be used to sample the air and how many units would be tested.
"It's a good solid conservative defense method," Baker & Daniels attorney Ken Weaver said of the testing by the EPA. "I'm proud of the government for doing something right for a change."
Weaver, who has been representing the recreational vehicle and manufactured housing industries since the late 1960s, explained FEMA appears to be gathering data to counteract claims linking health problems to formaldehyde. He said the air monitoring devices being used by the Sierra Club produce results that are "notoriously unreliable" because the final readings can be impacted by slight changes in protocol like the number of people walking into the room during the test.
Weaver predicted the EPA would use a more sophisticated testing process which first requires the unit be vacated and closed for 24 hours and then draws the air through distilled water for about two hours. Afterwards the water is analyzed for formaldehyde content.
Many recreational vehicle manufacturers that built the units for FEMA are watching the situation in the Gulf but, Weaver said, are not panicking or "saying we have a major problem."
A round of testing that the Mississippi Sierra Club did in July indicates the formaldehyde fumes may be abating in the FEMA units. Becky Gillette, president of the Magnolia State chapter, said four out of the seven units tested below the federal limit of 0.1 parts per million of formaldehyde and others tested close to the limit. Previously, testing had registered indoor concentrations of 0.2 ppm and 0.3 ppm.
"We would hope this is a problem that is getting better," Gillette said. "There's a 100,000-plus people still living in these things."
Still while Gillette noted that the symptoms many are fighting are consistent with formaldehyde poisoning, she also pointed out that the burning of tons of waste created by the hurricanes as well as the constant stress the Gulf Coast residents are living under may be contributing to the rash sickness.
"We've done a heck of a lot of work in the last year to rebuild homes, businesses and communities," Gillette said, giving special recognition to the many volunteers from around the country who came to help. "We're better. There has been a lot of progress but there are still some lingering concerns about the health impact of the hurricanes."
Some of the youngest victims are repeat visitors to Needle's practice who come in whining, coughing, sleep-deprived, and clinging to their mothers.
The Johns Hopkins educated pediatrician is pushing for formal medical studies to be conducted on FEMA trailers to determine if formaldehyde is elevated and if those levels are causing the illnesses he has been seeing.
"It's people's worst nightmare to lose everything and then be exposed to this," Needle said. "Basically we're just trying to get some answers."
Monday, August 21, 2006
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an Aug. 21 article by Elkhart Truth reporter Marilyn Odendahl examining the use of formaldehyde in travel trailers supplied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for relief efforts. A study conducted by the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club, a high-profile environmentalist group, allegedly showed high levels in some emergency units that may have caused illnesses among residents. The testing prompted a class action suit against FEMA and several RV OEMs. Recently, FEMA announced that it would be conducting its own testing for formaldehyde in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The validity of the Sierra Club’s testing has also come into question.
Tending to the steady stream of youngsters who tramp in the office with colds and sinus infections forms the heart of Dr. Scott Needle's pediatric practice in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary. Just prescribe some bed rest and maybe a dose of antibiotics.
But in a town that practically took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, some of the little tikes that have battled colds that lasted longer or that have returned after the medicine bottle was empty.
Needle began noticing a subtle pattern that all the children with these chronic respiratory illnesses were living with their families in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Colleagues and parents suggested formaldehyde as the cause of his young patients' maladies and then Needle was given a set of test results which indicated the air inside a sample of those units contained elevated levels of the chemical.
"At this point, (formaldehyde) is what I'm suspecting the most," said Needle. "I can't say for sure."
Indeed no one can say for sure that formaldehyde is the culprit behind the illnesses many Gulf Coast residents are experiencing in the aftermath of the series of 2005 hurricanes which left many homeless and the region devastated.
The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club has been using off-the-shelf devices to test the indoor air quality of the FEMA trailers and has recorded consistently high readings of formaldehyde.
Now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to examine some of the trailers being used as temporary housing. The federal agency issued the following statement about the test: "Although EPA does not regulate indoor air, a provision in the Stafford Act allows FEMA to ask us for help in this matter. EPA is currently working with FEMA to develop a sampling plan. Once EPA has collected the samples, the agency will send the results to an independent lab and have no further involvement."
EPA spokesman Dale Kemery would not discuss the details of the procedure, declining to answer when the tests would start, what method would be used to sample the air and how many units would be tested.
"It's a good solid conservative defense method," Baker & Daniels attorney Ken Weaver said of the testing by the EPA. "I'm proud of the government for doing something right for a change."
Weaver, who has been representing the recreational vehicle and manufactured housing industries since the late 1960s, explained FEMA appears to be gathering data to counteract claims linking health problems to formaldehyde. He said the air monitoring devices being used by the Sierra Club produce results that are "notoriously unreliable" because the final readings can be impacted by slight changes in protocol like the number of people walking into the room during the test.
Weaver predicted the EPA would use a more sophisticated testing process which first requires the unit be vacated and closed for 24 hours and then draws the air through distilled water for about two hours. Afterwards the water is analyzed for formaldehyde content.
Many recreational vehicle manufacturers that built the units for FEMA are watching the situation in the Gulf but, Weaver said, are not panicking or "saying we have a major problem."
A round of testing that the Mississippi Sierra Club did in July indicates the formaldehyde fumes may be abating in the FEMA units. Becky Gillette, president of the Magnolia State chapter, said four out of the seven units tested below the federal limit of 0.1 parts per million of formaldehyde and others tested close to the limit. Previously, testing had registered indoor concentrations of 0.2 ppm and 0.3 ppm.
"We would hope this is a problem that is getting better," Gillette said. "There's a 100,000-plus people still living in these things."
Still while Gillette noted that the symptoms many are fighting are consistent with formaldehyde poisoning, she also pointed out that the burning of tons of waste created by the hurricanes as well as the constant stress the Gulf Coast residents are living under may be contributing to the rash sickness.
"We've done a heck of a lot of work in the last year to rebuild homes, businesses and communities," Gillette said, giving special recognition to the many volunteers from around the country who came to help. "We're better. There has been a lot of progress but there are still some lingering concerns about the health impact of the hurricanes."
Some of the youngest victims are repeat visitors to Needle's practice who come in whining, coughing, sleep-deprived, and clinging to their mothers.
The Johns Hopkins educated pediatrician is pushing for formal medical studies to be conducted on FEMA trailers to determine if formaldehyde is elevated and if those levels are causing the illnesses he has been seeing.
"It's people's worst nightmare to lose everything and then be exposed to this," Needle said. "Basically we're just trying to get some answers."
