"Even at levels too low to cause . . . symptoms, there could be an increased risk of cancer," the CDC reported in February. Because the tests were done in winter, they understated exposure levels during warmer months, the agency said.

J. Joe Donaldson, president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that "pediatricians along the Gulf Coast . . . all reported epidemic problems with asthma and respiratory symptoms . . . covering the time of the hurricane, and, although it's diminished over time, it's ongoing. I personally believe that formaldehyde did play a significant part in the problem."

Despite its hazards, the chemical's presence in homes has largely escaped regulation. In 1985, after consumer complaints and lawsuits, Washington imposed a limit on the amount of formaldehyde emitted by plywood and particleboard in mobile homes -- but did not restrict how much of that wood can be used.

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The Housing and Urban Development office that enforces those rules has a small budget of $6 million and a staff of 13 based only at headquarters. Robert Wilden, who directed the office in the 1980s and 1990s, said in an interview that while the industry "benefits from minimal regulation," it lobbied for cuts in the office's budget.

When HUD set the formaldehyde limit for wood in mobile homes 23 years ago, it said it anticipated that the resulting ambient air levels would be less than 400 parts per billion, or quadruple what the CDC says is problematic. The RV industry association points out that, according to the CDC tests over the winter, levels in 99 percent of the Katrina trailers fell below that threshold.

‘Generally unregulated’
The use of formaldehyde in trailers is unregulated because they are considered vehicles, not homes, and because their makers say they are typically used a few days at a time, a few times a year.

"The RV industry is generally unregulated, and lobbying efforts have succeeded in keeping it that way," said Connie Gallant, head of the RV Consumer Group, which represents trailer owners.

California regulators recently enacted the nation's tightest formaldehyde limits on wood products, setting limits 60 percent below HUD standards by next year and 75 percent below by 2011. The rules are expected to become a de facto national standard.

FEMA, meanwhile, has barred the future use of trailers, and required that mobile home builders use wood that emits virtually no formaldehyde. The RV industry has embraced HUD and California standards.

FEMA has relocated more than 4,000 families after receiving 11,000 health complaints, but about 22,000 of its trailers remain occupied despite a CDC recommendation that all residents be moved to safer housing. As of May 1, more than 3,000 mobile homes were still occupied.

Paulison said that in the absence of a legally binding safety standard for residential air quality, FEMA will do the best it can in providing disaster housing. But, he complained, "There is no national standard for formaldehyde levels in American homes -- not conventional . . . homes, not [mobile] homes."

Staff researchers Madonna Lebling and Julie Tate contributed to this report.

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