Lawsuit Demands U.S. Restrictions on Formaldehyde in Wood Products

October 31, 2017: Today, we filed a lawsuit challenging the delay, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), of long-overdue standards that limit toxic formaldehyde emissions from certain wood products, including those that are often used in emergency housing and inexpensive furniture and building materials.  Formaldehyde emissions are known to cause cancer and exacerbate asthma, and were blamed for numerous illnesses among Gulf Coast residents housed in travel trailers and mobile homes supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.  EPA announced the delay in late September, shortly after the hurricanes devastated Gulf states and Puerto Rico.  The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, seeks to force EPA to stick to the firm and final deadline for compliance set by the Obama administration in December 2016, rather than extending the compliance deadlines by an additional year. 

 
Read the press release here.