HEALTH TIPS FOR FORMALDEHYDE VICTIMS
What People Can Do to Help Themselves
February 28, 2008 – As tens of thousands of families are moved from FEMA trailers,
mobile homes, and park models over the next several months to hotels and apartments,
some of the accommodations are bound to be less than optimal. In order to protect
health from further degradation and begin the process of health restoration, soon-to-be
former FEMA unit residents will need to be proactive and vigilant regarding their
health.
For over two-and-a half years, many of the hurricane survivors housed in formaldehyde-laden
FEMA units have experienced adverse health effects such as watery eyes, runny nose,
burning sensation in the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches and fatigue. According
to FEMA, “People with eye, skin, respiratory, or allergic conditions, and those with
asthma are more likely to feel the effects of formaldehyde. Children and the elderly
may be more sensitive as well.”
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) defines an adverse health
effect as a “. . . change in body function or cell structure that might lead to disease
or health problems.” What this means is that the “adverse health effects” experienced
by occupants of FEMA-provided housing units that off-gassed elevated levels of formaldehyde
might lead to disease or health problems. FEMA acknowledges, “More serious health
problems may be caused by extended exposure, including a small but increased risk
of some forms of cancer.” Thus, the extended exposure to elevated levels of formaldehyde
that occupants of FEMA housing units suffered requires that exposed people take appropriate
preventative measures to reduce the risk of these more serious formaldehyde-induced
diseases and health problems.
Amidst CDC’s pledge to set up a registry of occupants of the FEMA housing units and
assurance to monitor health outcomes experienced by people who were exposed to elevated
levels of formaldehyde, some of these victims may feel that the government is going
to “take care of them.” However, unless the CDC, FEMA, or some other arm of the government
set up avenues of detoxification for FEMA unit occupants who have or currently are
experiencing adverse health effects, future derailment of health may occur.
According to Timothy Callaghan, MD, DC, at the Center for Occupational & Environmental
Medicine (COEM), the most effective means of prevention of disease and health problems
from toxic exposures is bio-detoxification. Bio-detoxification is a process in which
harmful substances such as poisons or toxins that have been stored in the body are
removed. Dr. Callaghan explains in the book, MOLD: The War Within, how vitamins and
minerals can be used to bind toxins for a safer and more comfortable elimination
from the body. We must all take personal responsibility for our health and seek out
methods to effectively detoxify our own bodies through the use of organic foods,
whole foods (non-processed foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean meats, etc.), vitamins,
minerals, herbs, and other health supplements to undo the harmful effects from not
only the exposure to the formaldehyde-prone FEMA units, but from also the exposure
to all of the toxins that resulted from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
