The adverse health effects of meth contamination in the home
Methamphetamine or meth is an addictive drug that has plagued a lot of countries worldwide. It is a stimulant that can be taken in a variety of ways, including smoking, swallowing, injecting, or snorting. It’s sold in powdered or pill form, though it’s commonly depicted in mass media as shiny bluish-white crystals.
But aside from the alarming increase of meth addicts, there’s one more problem that’s caused by this drug: contamination. You see, cooking meth is not really a straightforward method, it requires dangerously mixing chemicals for a long time. They’re prepared by people in hazmat suits, perfect for a clandestine operation usually done in an unsuspecting neighbourhood, in an ordinary house.
The problem is, everything that’s exposed to the meth cooking process gets contaminated. Long after the meth lab stops operating, the meth residue still lingers in the walls, ceilings, and floors among others. If by any chance, someone else moves in and lives in the house, they’re exposed to meth and will soon notice adverse effects that are quite similar to the side effects of using the drug. Imagine a young family buying a bargain of a property, only to find out that every square meter of their new home can be dangerous to them and their children.
The effects of meth on the body
If you’re not aware that your home was previously a meth lab, you’ll be shocked to experience the effects of the drug without doing anything. Those who inject meth or smoke it usually feel a brief and intense rush, heightening of emotions because your body was forced to release dopamine into your brain. Continued exposure can also cause increased wakefulness, a drop in your appetite, and rage and violence. Your heart rate is irregular, and you’ll experience increased blood pressure.
If you or your family are exposed to the drug for a dangerously long period, you might experience lethal side effects. You can experience elevated body temperature at lethal levels, cardiovascular collapse, and extreme anorexia. Your teeth will begin to rot and fall off, and even lose parts of your memory. Suffering from an overdose, you can easily die from heart attacks or organ problems because of the elevated temperatures. Since you don’t know that you’re living in what was previously a meth lab, you won’t associate these symptoms to drug consumption or addiction. You won’t know how to deal with it, and you won’t really be able to do anything until it’s too late.
If there’s only trace amounts of meth left in the house, adults won’t really have any problems, unless they get randomly tested -- they’re in for a big surprise. For children, however, even the trace amounts of the drug can be dangerous. They could develop asthma-like symptoms from inhaling meth residue in the air. They’ll have a hard time sleeping because of the wakefulness side effect. They can suffer from anxiety, recurring nightmares, and even signs of ADHD.
Young children crawling around the carpet are susceptible to meth damage, like stunting their neurological development or compromising their immune system. Chairs, cribs, or even harmless-looking toys can all be contaminated and can affect your loved one because of prolonged exposure or contact.
Other effects include sore and watery eyes, blurred vision, persistent coughs and dizziness. Fortunately, most of these side effects clear up when you move out of the contaminated home. Actually, there’s no need to move out because with a proper, thorough cleaning, the meth residue and trace contaminants can be removed. You just need to know what to do or who to call to do it for you.
Which parts of the home are affected?
To determine which parts of your home are contaminated, a cleaning crew would swab the surfaces for testing. They’ll start on areas where meth smokers frequent, like bathrooms and laundry closets. The kitchen and other open, well-ventilated areas are perfect for cooking meth, so the contamination could be high there, even including any adjacent rooms.
Even before testing surfaces of meth contamination, cleaning crews can already identify tell-tale signs of a meth house or laboratory. Deadbolts on closets mean they’re keeping something important, or at least keeping someone from accessing it. Holes in the walls can be a sign of a violent user living in the home. Burn marks in places you least expect them, as well as discarded paraphernalia like needles and excessive amounts of lighters, are also red flags.
If there are any porous furniture or materials in the home, they need to be discarded even before the meth clean-up starts. They’re hotbeds for meth residue, and there’s really no way to salvage them. Decontaminating the carpet is futile, it’s better to just replace them than waste time trying. The discarded furniture is broken down so that they won’t be stolen and reused by anyone else. The waste is treated as hazardous material, so they’re properly disposed of, buried in authorised areas.
If you’re in the business of flipping houses, always test for meth contamination first before putting in new carpet or repainting the whole house. You’ll lose thousands if it’s discovered that the property you sold is contaminated, not to mention drawing the ire of the new homeowners, who may or may not sue you for damages. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so spending a small chunk of your budget for contamination tests is the best way to go. You may argue that the property is in a good neighbourhood, or that the previous residents don’t look like meth heads. Still, meth is one awful drug, and it doesn’t discriminate.
If you’re planning to move to a new home, and you have very little idea about its history, don’t think twice about getting it tested for meth contamination. You don’t want to risk exposing yourself and your family to this drug, especially if you have young kids. There are specialists you can rely on for this situation, and they’ll take care of the contamination for you. You don’t have to lift a finger; they’ll do everything from home inspections, laboratory tests, to actual cleaning just to get rid of even the smallest traces of meth in your home.
