The Lens

By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer

More than six years after FEMA provided displaced Hurricane Katrina victims with trailers that were later revealed to be toxic, early tests suggest that dangerously high levels of formaldehyde linger in the more than 130,000 units still in use.

An air quality test done last month in a FEMA trailer housing Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi showed levels of the carcinogen that exceeded levels deemed safe by the federal government.

The test, done by University of Oxford researcher Nick Shapiro, indicated a level of exposure of 105.6 parts per billion within the trailer, which was sold by FEMA in 2008 to a retired Mississippi couple who had lost their home to Katrina and could not afford to rebuild.

Like thousands of trailer residents who have come forward over the past six years, Charles and Barbara Syrie say the formaldeyde-laced trailers have made them ill.

“We have symptoms of exposure,” Charles Syrie said.  “Headaches. My wife Barbara has a raspy, raspy voice most of the time. We have muscle aches. Two years ago, Barbara had perfect teeth. Now she can pretty much break them off with her fingers.”

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This is the first in a series of stories produced by a collaboration between The Lens and Nick Shapiro, a medical anthropologist working with the The University of Oxford. You can read his blog, which contains updates on his travels and research concerning potentially toxic FEMA trailers across the country.