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By
Associated Press
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Published: Tue, April 01, 2008 - 11:36 am
Last Updated: Tue, April 01, 2008 - 11:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal scientist says his bosses ignoredpleas to alert Gulf Coast hurricane victims about formaldehyde
dangers in government-issued trailers.
Christopher De Rosa says his bosses also told him last year not
to write e-mails about his warnings of potentially widespread
health problems.
De Rosa is a top scientist at the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's toxic substances agency.
De Rosa's comments came today (Tuesday) at a House Science and
Technology subcommittee hearing on how the CDC and other agencies
handled complaints about potentially high levels of formaldehyde in
trailers issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Committee Democrats have accused FEMA of manipulating scientific
research to play down the dangers of high levels of formaldehyde
found in the trailers.
They say the CDC and its Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry went along with misleading residents.
In mid-2006, FEMA enlisted the CDC's help in analyzing the
results of air-quality tests on unoccupied trailers.
The CDC didn't start testing the air quality in occupied FEMA
trailers - or study the possible health effects of long-term
formaldehyde exposure - until late last year.
FEMA Trailer Plaintiffs Win In Court
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Where are the facts? Formaldehyde is present in just about every dyed cloth including draperies and upholstery. Natural some is present in trailer upholstery. The average finding of the CDC was about 75 parts per billion in the couple hundred complaints associated with the 120,000 FEMA trailers. This is only slightly higher than you might find in your average home. The CDC claims that concentrations of 1000 parts per billion may be hazardous. When is enough, enough? This just another bandwagon to jump onto exploit and say “I got Mine”