Following the FEMA formaldehyde debacle, wherein RVs used for emergency disaster housing turned out to be a disaster in themselves, it looks like RV builders will be taking a deep breath and looking for some fresh air.

The RVIA (Recreation Vehicle Industry Association), the RV industry’s own self-policing group, says it will mandate a new formaldehyde standard for materials used in building RVs. Prior to the mess surrounding Hurricane Katrina relief trailers, the RVIA had so specific formaldehyde standard. Following the backlash that arose when it was found some RV dwellers were being sickened by formaldehyde in those rigs, the association adopted standards that were set by the federal government for manufactured homes.

But March 1, at a meeting held in Hawaii, RVIA bigwigs made another change–instead of using those old federal HUD standards, they’d adopt the far more stringent CARB (California Air Resources Board) standards for permissible levels of formaldehyde in wood products used in RV construction. Was it breathing in all that fresh tropical air that caused the revision? Skeptics would say it probably had something to do with scrambling to make a better image in the eyes of RV buyers.

Regardless of the cause, the new formaldehyde standards will certainly reduce the likelihood of formaldehyde related side effects for those who spend any amount of time in an RV meeting the new standards. As to just when manufacturers will have to meet the CARB standards, the RVIA will make that decision in June. One could hope that meeting will take place somewhere far away from the urban smog zone.

Photo courtesy Kiwanja on flickr.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under FEMA, RVIA, formaldehyde, general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.