Are FEMA Trailers Making Residents Sick?

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CBS News

August marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Today the government says 86,000 families are still living in those white FEMA travel trailers across the Gulf — more and more waking up with a host of health problems — tied, medical experts believe, to the place they still call home.

<snip>

Dr. Scott Needle, a pediatrician in Bay St. Louis, was the first to notice Nicky was not alone. Dozens of his patients were suffering from the same symptoms that kept coming back: coughing, burning eyes, nose bleeds, sinus infections.

<snip>

Trailers with floors and cabinets built with particle board containing the chemical formaldehyde. Under hot humid conditions, formaldehyde lets off toxic fumes, especially harmful to young lungs.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/16/cbsnews_investigates/main2819179.shtml

[Suich]

1. Are you kidding me?????

Now let's watch the federal government spring into action........

This really sucks.

:banghead:

[Rue]

2. I would make a joke about FEMA trying to kill the survivors off . . .

. . . but these days, we don't know if it will come true :(

[burrowowl]

3. Probably

If they haven't been degassed with carbon filters.
Lot's of formaldehyde in the construction of said trailers.

[BootinUp]

4. Apparently we have looser standards

on chemicals in particle boards in the US than Europe has. I think it is a problem.

[noamnety]

5. Chertoff was aware of this in July 2006

http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/2006/08/fema_flipflop_o.html

So in a few years, FEMA should be starting to think about beginning to contemplate whether or not they should undertake a study to determine if there's a potential problem.

[ColonelTom]

6. What, are they using depleted uranium for walls?

Really, nothing these sociopaths do would shock me anymore. :wtf:

[athena]

7. This was in the Feb. 26th issue of The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/docprem.mhtml?i=20070226&s=spake
I knew it would be picked up by the MSM eventually.

Upon edit: I see that MSNBC had it in July 2006.

[Longhorn]

8. I remember shopping for a mobile home in 1977. My eyes were burning

and I could hardly breathe after we looked at one model. The smell of chemicals was overwhelming. We lived in one later and had no problems but I couldn't imagine living in that new one!

[barb162]

9. Then wouldn't everyone living in others trailers or houses

in hot humid areas have the same symptoms? Particle board is fairly common, right?

[Mnemosyne]

10. Possible solution - certain house plants.

You just never know what small thing could help.

Philodendron- This old favorite, with its beautiful foliage and easy care, has been shown to help remove harmful chemicals like formaldehyde from the air. Formaldehyde is found in everything from grocery bags to cigarette smoke. Philos like medium light and a good soaking, but be sure to let the soil dry between watering. They make gorgeous hanging plants.

Gerbera Daisy-These cheerful flowers, which come in a variety of colors, have been shown to help remove both benzene and trichloroethylene from the air. Both chemicals are found in inks, solvents, and paints. Benzene is also found in man made fibers and cigarette smoke. These plants will do well on a sunny windowsill. Keep the soil evenly moist and remove spent flowers to help encourage new blooms.

English Ivy-This plant has been shown to also help remove Benzene from the air. They like medium light and evenly moist soil. They also appreciate being misted every so often. They make lovely hanging plants and also love to climb.

Spider Plants- These were the first plants shown to help clean the air. They work best against formaldehyde. These beloved hanging plants come in several varieties, all which make babies at the ends of their leaves. They prefer medium light and evenly moist soil.

http://houseplants.suite101.com/article.cfm/houseplants_pollution_fighters

In 1986, my ex- and I bought a new mobile home and there were articles taped to the kitchen counter about the formaldehyde problem with Spider plants suggested as a solution. I have no idea if they helped, but my daughter did develop swollen lymph nodes in her neck that persist to this day. She had biopsies and many other tests; the doctor could never figure out what caused it. Makes me wonder...

Did you happen to read any of the comments? Compassion is certainly rampant in America.

[intheflow]

13. Here's a link specifically mentioning houseplants and formaldehyde.

From the University of Minnesota: Houseplants Help Clean Indoor Air.

Thanks so much for giving me this heads up. I've been following the formaldehyde issue closely during my hurricane recovery work, but this is the first I've read about using houseplants ot help alleviate the problem. I've passed it on to my local information network for them to distribute. :hi:

[Kool Kitty]

11. These poor people can't catch a break, can they?

Impeach the President (and everyone else in the administration), make W and the ever-lovin' Laura live out the rest of their lives in a FEMA trailer, pay him what the average Wal-Mart worker would make, have him try to insure his family on such a wage, have him make just enough that he doesn't qualify for food stamps or any such aid, and put the trailer that he has to inhabit in the lower Ninth Ward or another similarly forgotten (by him) part of the country destroyed by Hurrican Katrina. Let him see first-hand how it is to be forgotten by his government.

[intheflow]

12. Formaldehyde is a HUGE problem down here.

FEMA'S recommendation for fixing the problem? Open the windows and turn on the air conditioner.

Riiight. It's already in the high 80's here and most trailer parks sit in parking lots with no shade for the trailers. Telling residents to open the windows and turn on the a/c is like telling people in Alaska to burn dollar bills to keep warm from September to May.

Then there's the link between pollution and crime. In 1997, Dartmouth University released a report indicating direct correlations between increased levels of toxicity and crime. The FEMA trailer parks also have very high crime rates. Although formaldehyde is not a chemical mentioned in the Dartmouth study, it is possible that formaldehyde poisoning may be contributing to the crime rate, as well.

[Javaman]

14. is moron* making us all sick? nt