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What's Happening from Environmental Building News

June 1, 2008

FEMA Working to Limit Formaldehyde

FEMA has issued new specifications limiting the amount of formaldehyde in the trailers and mobile homes it uses in the wake of disasters, like this one located in Greensburg, Kansas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced new formaldehyde specifications for the trailers and manufactured homes it provides as temporary housing to disaster victims. These specifications are the latest response to concerns over high levels of formaldehyde found in the trailers distributed to displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina (see EBN Vol. 17, No. 4). Formaldehyde can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, among other symptoms, and is considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Effective immediately, new housing units purchased by FEMA must have ambient levels of formaldehyde below 16 parts per billion (ppb) when tested at the manufacturing plant by an independent third party. Typical homes in the U.S. have formaldehyde levels ranging from 10 to 30 ppb, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC); FEMA trailers used in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and tested by CDC had an average formaldehyde level of 77 ppb. In addition, all units will be constructed to standards set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which include a 35% minimum hourly air exchange rate. These standards will apply even though the park-model trailers FEMA uses are not typically governed by HUD standards as manufactured homes are; park-model trailers are designed to stay in one location, such as a vacation campground, but are not meant to be permanent residences.

According to Ryan Buras, a program manager with FEMA, the agency decided on the 16 ppb level after looking at the standards for ambient formaldehyde levels being considered by several other federal agencies. “We didn’t know what the ambient air standard was going to be,” he told EBN, “so we used the lowest standard out there.” The chosen target is also the lowest level of ambient formaldehyde that can be measured accurately and consistently, according to Michael Lapinski, a federal coordinating officer with FEMA.

To reach the target levels of ambient formaldehyde, FEMA is prohibiting the use of medium-density fiberboard, luan, vinyl gypsum board, and any other product containing urea-formaldehyde. According to John Sahlberg, vice president of communications for panel manufacturer Boise Cascade, several companies in the U.S. are already producing panel products without urea-formaldehyde, including the particleboard commonly used to make cabinets and furniture for trailers and manufactured housing. These products, like Boise’s Evergreen particleboard, are more expensive than their conventional counterparts.

– Allyson Wendt

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