Dying For a Home (toxic FEMAnsions)

[KamaAina]

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/current/news_feat.php

(originally in The Nation, 2/26, but it's $ub$cription :( )

An estimated 275,000 Americans are living in more than 102,000 travel trailers and mobile homes that FEMA purchased after Hurricane Katrina. The price tag for the trailers was more than $2.6 billion, according to FEMA. Despite their cost of about $15,000 each, most are camperlike units, designed for overnight stays. Even if the best materials had been used in their construction -- and whether they were is a point of debate -- the trailers would not be appropriate for full-time living, according to experts on mobile homes. The interiors are fabricated from composite wood, particle board and other materials that emit formaldehyde, a common but toxic chemical....

"I was seeing kids and families coming in with repeated, prolonged respiratory illnesses -- sinus infections, lingering coughs, viral infections -- that didn't go away," Needle says. The mothers told him that their children had never been sick like this before. Some of the infants had to be hospitalized. "Over the course of three months, I saw several dozen families with these health problems. That's really high, and this isn't something I'd seen in my practice before. All of them were living in FEMA trailers."...

Hilda Nelson, 75, of Coden, Ala., was not as lucky as the Stewarts. When she moved into a FEMA trailer at the site of her former house, she was in good health, says her son, Paul. Three weeks later, he says, "she was having trouble breathing." Not long after, she was diagnosed with pneumonia, then congestive heart failure, a chronic illness that can cause breathing difficulties.

In June 2006, Paul Nelson ordered a kit to test his mother's trailer for formaldehyde. The results showed the level of the chemical inside her trailer was 50 percent over the EPA's recommended limit.

Here's the kicker: The formaldehyde is released faster in hot, humid climates...

Hey! I know! Maybe if Bush** goes down there for another photo op, all the nasty chemicals will just go away! :sarcasm: