Wednesday, June 04, 2008
FOUR INDIANA TRAVEL TRAILER MANUFACTURERS TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ABOUT FORMALDEHYDE LEVELS
RV Business
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A House investigatory panel has asked four Indiana travel trailer makers to testify next month about the formaldehyde levels in units purchased by the federal government as temporary homes for hurricane victims in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Gannett News Service reported that builders include Gulf Stream Coach Inc., Nappanee, Pilgrim International Inc., Middlebury, Keystone RV Inc., Goshen, and Elkhart-based Forest River Inc.
Trailers built by the companies were among those found by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to have statistically higher levels of formaldehyde than other travel trailers, according to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent letters to the companies today (June 4) asking them to testify at a July 10 hearing. Waxman had previously asked Gulf Stream, Pilgrim and Middlebury-based Coachmen Industries Inc. to provide various documents to the committee.
The inquiries stemmed from testing conducted by CDC on 519 trailers used for emergency relief following hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Preliminary results, published in February, indicated that the majority showed relatively low levels of formaldehyde outgassing, one-third had levels that may affect those more susceptible such as infants, the elderly or people with asthma, and around 5% had “higher levels.”
Following the report, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) during its annual meeting in March voted to adopt formaldehyde requirements set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which were authorized by the state April 18. In September 2007, RVIA had adopted formaldehyde standards for building products established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Also in March, Gulf Stream announced that the company was using products that met CARB standards.
RVB Web Editor Dave Barbulesco contributed to this posting based on the Gannett article.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A House investigatory panel has asked four Indiana travel trailer makers to testify next month about the formaldehyde levels in units purchased by the federal government as temporary homes for hurricane victims in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Gannett News Service reported that builders include Gulf Stream Coach Inc., Nappanee, Pilgrim International Inc., Middlebury, Keystone RV Inc., Goshen, and Elkhart-based Forest River Inc.
Trailers built by the companies were among those found by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to have statistically higher levels of formaldehyde than other travel trailers, according to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent letters to the companies today (June 4) asking them to testify at a July 10 hearing. Waxman had previously asked Gulf Stream, Pilgrim and Middlebury-based Coachmen Industries Inc. to provide various documents to the committee.
The inquiries stemmed from testing conducted by CDC on 519 trailers used for emergency relief following hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Preliminary results, published in February, indicated that the majority showed relatively low levels of formaldehyde outgassing, one-third had levels that may affect those more susceptible such as infants, the elderly or people with asthma, and around 5% had “higher levels.”
Following the report, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) during its annual meeting in March voted to adopt formaldehyde requirements set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which were authorized by the state April 18. In September 2007, RVIA had adopted formaldehyde standards for building products established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Also in March, Gulf Stream announced that the company was using products that met CARB standards.
RVB Web Editor Dave Barbulesco contributed to this posting based on the Gannett article.
