The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been accused of confining valuable information about the dangers of formaldehyde exposure in the 140,000 FEMA trailers and mobile homes provided to victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Formaldehyde is a preservative, used to make the glue or adhesive in building materials and also used in the pharmaceutical industry, on cosmetics and personal hygiene products such as toothpaste and deodorant. It is also found in outside and inside air on levels of less than 0.03 parts per million. At levels above 0.1 parts per million, the exposure causes a burning sensation in the eyes, nose and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; and skin rashes.

Christopher De Rosa, one of the governments’ top toxicologists until recently, is the one responsible for this new wave of information. In a written testimony, he presented a congressional panel with the many e-mails sent to his superiors last year, e-mails presenting information on the risks taken upon themselves by people continuing to live there.

The peoples’ decision is one that had to be made in full knowledge of all details and repercussions, De Rosa insisted.

"I stressed the importance of alerting the trailer residents to the potential reproductive, developmental and carcinogenic effects... (but) the only response I received was that such matters should not be discussed in e-mails since they might be 'misinterpreted,'" De Rosa said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

The CDC defended itself by citing its February 2007 campaign on safety issues, which stated that with proper ventilation, formaldehyde levels were safe in the short term.

De Rosa considers the agency’s past efforts insignificant, proposing a much more aggressive take on the matter, including warnings about longer-term health risks, relocations for affected families and tests for all mobile homes.

At this point, about 30,000 units are still occupied. FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson said every trailer offered to future disaster victims will be tested for formaldehyde and rejected if levels are too high, according to USA Today.