St. Tammany News

The symptoms all seemed to be the same: coughing, burning eyes, nosebleeds, sinus infections.

Yet for the hundreds of patients spread throughout the country, inflicted with the same health issues, there was one common connection. They all lived in a FEMA trailer. In response to reports of formaldehyde found in trailers issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to hurricane stricken residents, FEMA is offering to pay hotel or motel bills for a 30-day stay or until more appropriate housing is located. Extensions can be authorized on a case-by-case basis.

Of the more than 40,000 FEMA residents statewide, five have taken advantage of the offer, spokesperson Mike Wiener said. It was unclear how many residents living in St. Tammany's 4,366 FEMA trailers have applied.

"The vast majority of those wanting to relocate don't want to go into a home or house, not a motel," Wiener said. "And we want to get them into a home. It's up to them."

Guidelines for the hotel waiver stipulate residents must currently live in a trailer and not return to the temporary housing unit once in a hotel. The applicant is also responsible for paying all hotel fees except room and taxes.

Reports earlier this year found trailers with floors and cabinets built with particleboard contain the chemical formaldehyde.

Under hot, humid conditions, formaldehyde lets off toxic fumes, especially harmful to young lungs and could pose immediate and long-term health risks.

It also is considered a human carcinogen, or cancer-causing substance, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Air quality tests of 44 FEMA trailers conducted by the Sierra Club since April have found formaldehyde concentrations as high as 0.34 parts per million - a level nearly equal to what a professional embalmer would be exposed to on the job, according to one study of the chemical's workplace effects.

And all but four of the trailers have tested higher than the 0.1 parts per million that the EPA considers to be an "elevated level" capable of causing watery eyes, burning in the eyes and throat, nausea, and respiratory distress in some people.

Those interested in relocating should call 1-888-294-2822. Occupants of a FEMA-provided temporary housing unit who have a health concern may contact FEMA at the FEMA Formaldehyde information number: 1-866-562-2381; TTY 1-800-462-7585. More information is available at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/2005katrina/useful.shtm.