Comments on: Formaldehyde in FEMA travel trailers making people sick

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:32:24 +0000

Hi
I’m a 41 year old female that grew up in MI. I just found this thread. Our house had UFFI installed and I watched my Dad get sick,so sick we didn’t know if he was going to live cause he was coughing up blood. They went through the lawsuit bit and eventually had to settle for medical costs. The companies know it is dangerous.It is not just moisture that causes it to break down. It is very hard to go through but I’ve been there and if anyone needs help or has questions I would be grateful if I could help in some way.UFFI illness is not BS. Iv’e seen it . It created a further chemical sensetivity/asthma in my Father and now it is starting in me. Can’t prove the scar tissue on my lungs is caused by it but if it quacks like a duck…Can’t wear anything but cotten now because it’s in our clothes.Lawyers especally Northern Lawyers of a certain age should know all about this stuff. Let me know if I can help.

By: sheera

sheera — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:37 +0000

You are the most ignorant person ever!!!

By: Lin

Lin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:29:16 +0000

Mindy,
How is the baby? I happened upon your story while reading about the fema trailers. I went through an intense amount of trauma and IVAN(my little single-parent home is still leaking and damaged), but God is STILL in control. I will be keeping you and yours in my prayers.
LL

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:41:45 +0000

I don’t know if your still having a problem with your childs health, or if I can even still contact you, but our story is the same and would love to hear what you did to help her.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:01:27 +0000

If anyone would like to send my new petition at the following address it would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to go for more than 1000 signatures to send to congress and senate but I need your help. I am the family who owns the FORMALDEHYDE POISON handicapped Van from Miss that was brought into Florida with a possible washed title. The owner was FORD and then sold to Companion Van, Inc and the title was never switched and then FORD dealership got it and sold it to us.

here is the website for the petition so please help me help everyone by trying to ban FORMALDEHYDE in vehicles and products now!!!!

By: amanda

amanda — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:16:44 +0000

I thank god there are more careing people in this world than inorant jack asses. these people who lost everything have enough to deal with, without haveing to put up with people like some of you. only god can judge and trust, if people are abuseing the help fema provided them then he knows it better than any of us. to all katrina victoms like me keep on keeping on.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:09:59 +0000

This comment is to Mike mostly about his last remark. I think in one way you are right about the media and the government should go after the RV manufactors for using the poison in the first place. This world has enough sick people in it and then on top of that the manufactors are poisoning us even more. I can only speak from experience that you mentioned about “new car smell”. I am the family who owns the Hnadicapped Van that is reading the FORMALDEHYDE LEVELS at 1.9 ppms. This is way beyond the legal limit. I did what I had to do and went thru the Lemon Law the legal way. I was told that they admit there is a higher level than legal but that it is my fault that I did not air out the van before using it. Anyone who believes that I should have aired out this van before using it is very mistaken. What person in their right mind would by a brand new Handicapped Accessible Custom Van at $52,000.00 and not expect to use it right off the lot. This is what are great Lawyers who represented us let FORD tell us and did not respond in our favor. Which proves that justice is not fair in this world. The media tried to help us get the word out to the everyone about this injustice and nothing happened becuase the story was only aired in Fl. I can honestly tell you that I have skin cancer which I did not have before 2 yrs ago when I purchased this van. I can tell you that we were not sueing FORD but after FORD realized that they actually were not being sued then they turned around defended with FORD LAWYERS the custom company who put the poison in the van in the first place. We never had a chance against the BIG BOYS you could say. I personally have gone to one of the best cancer centers here in FL to be treated for Vocal Cord Dysfuntion and if you are not aware what that is I will tell you. It means when you get near any kind of perfume, air freshners, scented candles you start to have problems breathing and your cords close and you can not speak either. It takes several hrs for them to come back to normal. I can also tell you that my mom and my husband were also diagnosed with skin cancer called squalmous cell. Each one of us had it removed somewhere on our body and now we have scars. You can live with scars but you can not live without vocal cords working. I can also tell you that we went to purchase a new vehicle last week for my mom. She asked me to ride in it to make sure I could breath in it. I went to a Pontiac Dealer first. No problems. Then we tried a Chevy Dealership and drove in a chevy Malibu and within mins of riding I asked the drive to take me back or leave me on the side of the road because I could not breath. We even tried the air conditioner and open windows to help till we got back. But the worst of it was the saleman who rides in the vehicle had been complaining about problems breathing for the past 2 months. He did realize the problem with him was everytime someone rides in the vehicle he takes it to the back and they spray it …make it new vehicle smell again. He now knows what it was and told them not to do that anymore.

We went back over to Pontiac and I tried to speak to the saleman over there. He was like what happened to you and your voice. Explained what happened ..he was shocked it could react that fast….. I am living proof …put me into any area where there is formaldehyde and I will react… you do not even have to tell me what your doing….I am that senitive to it now.

Other signs where nose bleeds, headaches beyond taking tyleno for them, skin cancer, VCD, scales on your head,skin, itching of skin, breathing prob, lung prob,etc.

if anyone wants to see my van email me I will send you pictures of this brand new van with the whole bottom rusted everywhere which was sold to me brand new. It was built in Miss during Katrina. We have proof it was flooded and dried out and sold new to us do to the mileage of 102 miles only.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:28:29 +0000

I find it breath taking that the current media reports on this issue fail to consider the issue in any mature, honest, thoughtful way. The implication is–from the media, and from many of the posts above–that FEMA screwed up. The sound-byte reports imply that FEMA bought cheap trailers, or that FEMA commissioned the construction of dangerous trailers, neither of which is the case. As I suspected when I heard the media sound byte, this isn’t just a FEMA trailer problem, it’s an RV-industry-wide problem, exacerbated by the unfortunate reality that Katrina victims (and others) are making permanent and continuous residences out of brand new trailers designed for occasional use.

It probably turns out that even “the new car smell” would harm people if people lived in their new cars for a year. It probably also turns out that certain yuppies’s new million-dollar houses are also harming their inhabitants with the same chemical fumes.

And it’s not just formeldhyde.

There are thousands of chemical vapors of-gassing from glues and plastics that are present in almost all man-made structures and vehicles.

People, you need to think for yourselves! Just like the thinking that I just did where I suspected the media was missing the point (and which led me to spend 30 minutes and learn the truth). And not like the pathetic reporters in the media, who couldn’t discover the essense of a story if their lives depended on it.

I feel sorry for all of the victims, but I wonder if they would have fared better if they had been told that the smells were not a good thing, and that they should ventilate.

THAT is the real purpose of the media, but they’re sadly AWOL.

Will the media ever take any blame for anything?

By: Wes

Wes — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:22:18 +0000

I am (was) a RV technician until I became so sick that I had to quit what I was doing. After many visits to the doctor, MRI’s, Cat scans, etc we have found there may be a link to the formaldehyde poisoning all the symtoms are there! Since I stopped 1.5 years ago some of the symtoms have subsided but still many remain like nose bleeds, shortnes of breath, extreme sinus irritation, light headedness etc. As a Rv technician many hours were spent doing repairs PDI’s fabrications in campers that came directly from the manufacturer. For the record before I went into the RV field I had non of these symtoms and when I quit I thought they would subside but I live with them everyday. The bottom line is that formaldehyde is dangerous! For the record I never worked with Gulf Coast RV’s and keep in mind almost all RV manufacturers use the same formaldehyde containing wall board and wood products that can cause minor to serious (including fatal cancer that formaldehyde has been linked to!). I believe that the government and RV manufacturers have the peoples best interest at heart but when they test the formaldehyde PPM at the factory it is within the accepted level the change comes when it sits in the shipping staging area and the heat and humidity brings the chemical out of the material. And for those of you who think this is BS got to an area in the us southeast like New orleans when it is very hot and humid and go to a RV dealer ask to see a new unit that is still factory sealed I challenge you to spend a hour inside and see if you can come out without your nose running, tears runing down your face, and an extreme headache then go back inside and try to find a formaldehyde warning label. I pray for those who have been affected by it and I pray for those who don’t know enough about it to care and I also pray for those who have lost much from katrina and for those who look to gain much from katrina you now who you are. Thanks Wes

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:45:10 +0000

I gotta tell ya – if you have still not moved on with your life and are waiting for the government to bail you out – it isn’t going to happen. The trailers are for camping – not living in. Millions of families own these trailers – they just didn’t change the manufacturing process to poison Katrina folks. Blame the government…blah blah blah. Take yourself and your families and make a move on your own.