Federal health officials warned yesterday that the victims of the Gulf Coast hurricane should be moved as soon as possible from the governmental trailers, after measuring high levels of toxic formaldehyde gas that pose serious health risks to the approximately 100,000 victims. The health officials urged for measures to be taken before the temperatures will start to rise.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will need to discuss a strategy of moving the thousands of trailer occupants. The first recommendations were to begin with the families with children, elder persons and people with asthma problems.

The scientists have been trying to find an answer to the health problems that have appeared after the survivors of hurricane Katrina and Rita moved to the trailers, but almost two years have passed before they managed to find an explanation. Mike McGeehin, director of the environmental hazards division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the people should not continue to be exposed to such conditions.

Warnings about possible problems have been issued months ago, but it wasn’t until December that a closer investigation on the trailers started. The Federal Emergency Management Agency already reported that 800 families are being moved every week, but refused to discuss on the CDC report.

"If levels are high today, that means people in housing vulnerable to formaldehyde could be exposed to health effects now. We're also concerned because they've been in there 18 months, and even a low level could result in large cumulative exposure," said Julie Gerberding, CDC director, according to the Washington Post. "We know less about effects of chronic exposure. It's very important we reduce it as much and as quickly as we can and the way to do that is to get people out of these homes."