Formaldehyde Fiasco

IN true kangaroo court fashion, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has acted as judge, jury, and executioner in the case of urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI). The Commission’s crusade against the highly conjectural health hazards of formaldehyde, a trace ingredient in the insulation, culminated last December in a premature pronouncement that the product poses a risk of cancer in humans. A proposed ban passed in mid-January by a 3 to 2 vote.

The Commission, in handling the UF foam insulation issue, has proceeded like the architect in Gulliver’s Travels who devised a new method for building houses: “beginning at the Roof, and working downwards to the Foundation.’’ The CPSC did not wait for hard evidence that formaldehyde is carcinogenic in humans. Undeterred by scientists’ ongoing debate on the health effects of the widely used chemical, the eager regulators plunged ahead with a series of press releases and boldly lettered “Alert Sheets,” unduly alarming the public, causing the resale value of individual UF-foam-insulated homes to drop by as much as $20,000, and dealing a mortal blow to a small but previously thriving industry.

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Maggie Ledford Lawson

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IN true kangaroo court fashion, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has acted as judge, jury, and executioner in the case of urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI). The Commission’s crusade against the highly conjectural health hazards of formaldehyde, a trace ingredient in the insulation, culminated last December in a premature pronouncement that the product poses a risk of cancer in humans. A proposed ban passed in mid-January by a 3 to 2 vote.

The Commission, in handling the UF foam insulation issue, has proceeded like the architect in Gulliver’s Travels who devised a new method for building houses: “beginning at the Roof, and working downwards to the Foundation.’’ The CPSC did not wait for hard evidence that formaldehyde is carcinogenic in humans. Undeterred by scientists’ ongoing debate on the health effects of the widely used chemical, the eager regulators plunged ahead with a series of press releases and boldly lettered “Alert Sheets,” unduly alarming the public, causing the resale value of individual UF-foam-insulated homes to drop by as much as $20,000, and dealing a mortal blow to a small but previously thriving industry.