Since it is commonly used in manufactured homes, formaldehyde levels can be quite high in many of them. Some trailers and mobile homes can have such bad fumes from formaldehyde that they cause breathing problems, which can affect children or the elderly. People who already have respiratory issues can also be impacted by its presence.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has done tests on hundreds of mobile homes in both Louisiana and Mississippi. Their tests showed that fumes in the homes were very high. In the heat of the summer season or any arid climate, reduced ventilation is capable of causing fumes to become more potent.
Because of the severity of the breathing problems that the formaldehyde can cause for humans, two major agencies have observed its cancerous potential. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies formaldehyde as a probable carcinogen while the International Agency for Research on Cancer has definitively classified it as one.
There are some solutions mobile home owners can observe to protect themselves. It is important to keep fresh air flowing through windows in the home every day for some time. In warm weather, it is best to open up all the widnows you can. A doctor on the Allergy and Immunology Board made the suggestion to close everything in the house, lock up and then turn the heat on, keeping the house baking above 80 degrees for a couple of hours. No humans or pets should stay in the house. After that, open every window and let it cool way down for an hour or as long as it takes. This will cut down on fumes.