Formaldehyde

WASHINGTON — The government issued warnings yesterday about two materials used daily by millions of Americans, saying that one causes cancer and the other might. Government scientists listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and said it is found in worrisome quantities in plywood, particle board, mortuaries, and hair salons. They also said that styrene, which is used in boats, bathtubs, and Styrofoam, may cause cancer but is generally found in low levels in consumer products whose risks are low. Frequent and intense exposures in manufacturing plants are far more worrisome than the...

NEW ORLEANS - Nearly two dozen companies that manufactured government-issued trailers for storm victims after Hurricane Katrina have agreed to pay $14.8 million in a proposed class-action settlement of claims that the temporary shelters exposed occupants to hazardous fumes. Plaintiffs' lawyer Gerald Meunier said Tuesday that the agreement could benefit tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents who lived in travel trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

NEW ORLEANS - Nearly two dozen companies that manufactured government-issued trailers for storm victims after Hurricane Katrina have agreed to pay $14.8 million in a proposed class-action settlement of claims that the temporary shelters exposed occupants to hazardous fumes. Plaintiffs' lawyer Gerald Meunier said Tuesday that the agreement could benefit tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents who lived in travel trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Authorities say a FedEx semitrailer hauling chemicals containing formaldehyde overturned on an interstate near the Georgia-Tennessee line, forcing the highway to close for a time as crews cleaned up the chemical mess. Sgt. John Burnette of the Georgia State Patrol says the truck, which was hauling two trailers, hit a guardrail and overturned around 5 a.m. Thursday. The wreck happened on Interstate 75 about 30 miles south of Chattanooga. Burnette says hundreds of small bottles of sterilization fluid, each containing a small amount of formaldehyde, spilled from the truck.

WASHINGTON - Manufacturers say they are not responsible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers that had toxic levels of formaldehyde, despite Democrats' findings that companies knew of the dangers yet sold them to the government anyway after Hurricane Katrina. The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis by Republican staff members on the same committee. The Republican report backs the companies and found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde - a preservative commonly used in...

Authorities say a FedEx semitrailer hauling chemicals containing formaldehyde overturned on an interstate near the Georgia-Tennessee line, forcing the highway to close for a time as crews cleaned up the chemical mess. Sgt. John Burnette of the Georgia State Patrol says the truck, which was hauling two trailers, hit a guardrail and overturned around 5 a.m. Thursday. The wreck happened on Interstate 75 about 30 miles south of Chattanooga. Burnette says hundreds of small bottles of sterilization fluid, each containing a small amount of...

TRENTON, N.J. - A coalition of health, environmental, and consumer groups is demanding that health products giant Johnson & Johnson remove tiny amounts of two chemicals suspected of causing cancer from its Johnson's Baby Shampoo and other products. In a letter sent late Friday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to J&J's chief executive, William Weldon, the seven-year-old group asks the company by the end of August to reformulate its personal care products so that they are free of 1,4-dioxane and any preservatives that release formaldehyde.

The maker of a popular line of hair-straightening products has agreed to alert consumers that two of its formulations emit formaldehyde gas, a possible carcinogen, California's attorney general announced Monday. The labeling changes are designed to settle a lawsuit the state filed in November against the company that makes Brazilian Blowout products, which have been a boon for those who dislike their naturally curly tresses but a source of health concerns. The products are applied during salon treatments and coupled with high heat to...

BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. - The anguish of Hurricane Katrina should have ended for Gina Bouffanie and her daughter when they left their FEMA trailer. But with each hospital visit and each labored breath her child takes, the young mother fears it has just begun. "It's just the sickness. I can't get rid of it. It just keeps coming back," said Bouffanie, 27, who was pregnant with her now 15-month-old daughter, Lexi, while living in the trailer. "I'm just like, Oh God, I wish like this would stop.' If I had known it would get her sick, I wouldn't have stayed in the trailer for so long.

NEW ORLEANS - The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked a federal judge yesterday for immunity from lawsuits over potentially dangerous fumes in government-issued trailers that have housed tens of thousands of Gulf Coast hurricane victims. Lawyers for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita accuse FEMA of negligence for sheltering them in trailers with elevated levels of formaldehyde, a preservative used in construction materials that can cause health problems. But a government lawyer told US District Judge Kurt Engelhardt that the FEMA's...

The maker of a popular line of hair-straightening products has agreed to alert consumers that two of its formulations emit formaldehyde gas, a possible carcinogen, California's attorney general announced Monday. The labeling changes are designed to settle a lawsuit the state filed in November against the company that makes Brazilian Blowout products, which have been a boon for those who dislike their naturally curly tresses but a source of health concerns. The products are applied during salon treatments and coupled with high heat to temporarily smooth the hair shaft.

WASHINGTON — The government issued warnings yesterday about two materials used daily by millions of Americans, saying that one causes cancer and the other might. Government scientists listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and said it is found in worrisome quantities in plywood, particle board, mortuaries, and hair salons. They also said that styrene, which is used in boats, bathtubs, and Styrofoam, may cause cancer but is generally found in low levels in consumer products whose risks are low. Frequent and intense exposures in manufacturing plants are far more worrisome than the...

INDIANAPOLIS - The trailer industry and lawmakers are pressing the government to send Haiti thousands of potentially formaldehyde-laced trailers left over from Hurricane Katrina - an idea denounced by some as a crass and self-serving attempt to dump inferior American products on the poor. The 100,000 trailers became a symbol of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s bungled response to Katrina. The government had bought the trailers to house victims of the 2005 storm, but after people began falling ill, high levels of formaldehyde, a chemical that is...

TRENTON, N.J. - A coalition of health, environmental, and consumer groups is demanding that health products giant Johnson & Johnson remove tiny amounts of two chemicals suspected of causing cancer from its Johnson's Baby Shampoo and other products. In a letter sent late Friday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to J&J's chief executive, William Weldon, the seven-year-old group asks the company by the end of August to reformulate its personal care products so that they are free of 1,4-dioxane and any preservatives that release formaldehyde.

WASHINGTON - Gulf Coast officials asked lawmakers yesterday for fast federal money for hurricane recovery and a minimum of bureaucratic red tape. Texas is looking at $11.4 billion in damages from Ike, including $16 million in damages to Houston, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst said. Devastation in Galveston is another $2 billion, that city's mayor said. Louisiana is facing $1 billion in damages from Ike and Gustav, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu said. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said in prepared testimony that the $40 million cost of evacuating...

NEW ORLEANS - The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked a federal judge yesterday for immunity from lawsuits over potentially dangerous fumes in government-issued trailers that have housed tens of thousands of Gulf Coast hurricane victims. Lawyers for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita accuse FEMA of negligence for sheltering them in trailers with elevated levels of formaldehyde, a preservative used in construction materials that can cause health problems. But a government lawyer told US District Judge Kurt Engelhardt that the FEMA's decisions...

INDIANAPOLIS - The trailer industry and lawmakers are pressing the government to send Haiti thousands of potentially formaldehyde-laced trailers left over from Hurricane Katrina - an idea denounced by some as a crass and self-serving attempt to dump inferior American products on the poor. The 100,000 trailers became a symbol of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s bungled response to Katrina. The government had bought the trailers to house victims of the 2005 storm, but after people began falling ill, high levels of formaldehyde, a chemical that is used in building materials and can...

WASHINGTON - Gulf Coast officials asked lawmakers yesterday for fast federal money for hurricane recovery and a minimum of bureaucratic red tape. Texas is looking at $11.4 billion in damages from Ike, including $16 million in damages to Houston, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst said. Devastation in Galveston is another $2 billion, that city's mayor said. Louisiana is facing $1 billion in damages from Ike and Gustav, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu said. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said in prepared testimony that the $40 million cost of evacuating his city for...

WASHINGTON - Manufacturers say they are not responsible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers that had toxic levels of formaldehyde, despite Democrats' findings that companies knew of the dangers yet sold them to the government anyway after Hurricane Katrina. The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis by Republican staff members on the same committee. The Republican report backs the companies and found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde - a preservative commonly used in...

BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. - The anguish of Hurricane Katrina should have ended for Gina Bouffanie and her daughter when they left their FEMA trailer. But with each hospital visit and each labored breath her child takes, the young mother fears it has just begun. "It's just the sickness. I can't get rid of it. It just keeps coming back," said Bouffanie, 27, who was pregnant with her now 15-month-old daughter, Lexi, while living in the trailer. "I'm just like, Oh God, I wish like this would stop.' If I had known it would get her sick, I wouldn't have...