Formaldehyde levels on Capitol Hill lower than feared

Formaldehyde levels in Capitol Hill office buildings are not as high as suspected and are in compliance with federal regulations, according to a recent series of tests done by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC).

The tests were conducted in response to concerns that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) expressed in a letter to the AOC last month.

{mosads}“We appreciate the prompt response of the AOC to the concerns that were raised and are relieved that the formaldehyde levels that were measured throughout the (Capitol) complex don't pose a threat to public or worker safety,” said Dale Neugebauer, chief of staff for Issa.

The lawmaker became worried when a Republican staff member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee found unusually high formaldehyde levels in several House office buildings. The committee was preparing for a hearing on the high levels of formaldehyde found in the trailers FEMA provided to victims of Hurricane Katrina several years ago.

The AOC analyzed 67 samples gathered from throughout the U.S. Capitol complex, including House and Senate office buildings, the Capitol Visitors Center, the U.S. Capitol Police headquarters, dormitories, and day care facilities.

Formaldehyde is a chemical used to manufacture many building materials and household products, such as plastics, insulation, particle board, plywood, and adhesives. Prolonged exposure at high levels has been known to cause cancer.

The GOP staffer’s initial findings noted levels as high as 80 parts per billion in the Rayburn House Office Building. But the AOC’s results were all less than five parts per billion.

Part of the reason for holding congressional hearings on formaldehyde levels was to establish a uniform set of safe and enforceable levels. 

No such standard exists and acceptable levels vary between organizations.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses a target level of 400 parts per billion for the indoor air of manufactured homes, while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set 100 parts per billion as its level of concern, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established its acceptable level at 16 parts per billion. When CDC tested FEMA trailers the average level found was 77 parts per billion.

To get as accurate a read on levels as possible, the AOC tried to sample at least two recently renovated rooms with new carpet and furnishings, and at least two rooms that had little or no recent change in carpet and furnishings in every building.

“If formaldehyde were a concern within the (Capitol) complex, it would most likely be present in recently constructed or renovated areas,” said Steven Ayers, Acting Architect of the Capitol in a letter to Issa.