A friend recently moved into a home that she suspects was a former meth lab. She would like to test for residue and threats to health, but does not know how to do this and neither does the local police or fire department. Your insight is appreciated.

Just some thoughts.  Where is she located? - and I ask for two reasons.  One, there might be a testing company nearby, and two, perhaps she's in a region that has some legislation attached to their real estate and/or tenant by-laws that requires a property to be certified "clean" before the occupancy is transferred.  I'm not aware of an "easy" test - from all that I've read, the tests are quite comprehensive, and unfortunately, quite expensive as well. 

Tara   

I happened across a URL for a cleanup company that operates in about 37 states.  Don't know if your friend is in one of them, but perhaps it will help.

Tara

http://www.methlabcleanup.com/

There are home test kits available. I have seen ranging from $10 on up to $100 or so each. But you can do it yourself and get either "real time" results or results sent back to you after lab analysis. One is here: http://www.mappsd.org/Test%20Kit.htm Here is another: http://meth-wipe.com/ Make sure to find out whether you get just a +/- or the exact level of contamination. Also if a +/- only, what is the lowest amount that the kit will detect as a positive. If going the cheaper route (typically just a +/-, always follow up with a more expensive home kit that tells you the exact amount present or hire a contractor to do follow-up testing. There will be a HUGE range in positive results, depending upon whether just used (smoked) in the property or actually cooked there. Cleanup needs will likewise vary widely, but will be dependent upon first knowing the exact level of contamination.

My late boyfriend who died on July 14, 2006 from meth had made meth in the basement of his house. His house was sold. Should I go to them and let them know so they could get the house tested? I didn't know that you could have your house tested until I read this. Would appreciate any advice. Thank You

I think to answer your own question, you could put yourself in their shoes. Would you want to know if there was a Meth lab in the house you lived in or owned? Someone may have told them about it before they bought it. Or they may be still unaware of this. I have seen so many stories of people who did not know until after they bought it. It can be very devastating.  They may be blissfully "living the American dream" right now, living in their own home and not knowing about the home's history. Knowing can destroy that illusion for them. But on the other hand, is it true in the case of living in a former Meth lab that what you don't know can't hurt you? Is it better to live the illusion while their home could have toxic residues that could be causing harm (we still don't have all the research results in to know for sure)?

Keep in mind the stakes for them if you decide to let them know. You may be dealing a devastating, life changing blow to them. Proceed delicately and use tact. Pray that the local media and churches will pay attention to the case and that the community will come together to support them financial and emotionally as they deal with the realization.

Look into your own heart. Do what feels right to you.
 

 theres a light thing that can scan for that.... i suggest u find an undercover cop... they have them on hand

You can purchase a box of Q-tips and distilled water, dip the Q-tip into the distilled water and take samples from your walls and other spots with the Q-tip, then submit the sample to any laboratory that performs the analysis (the cost of which typically ranges from $35 to $60).

The point has been missed here. There is only one test for a meth "lab" and that is finding it (the police are the best at doing that). Testing for meth will give a result for meth the drug (the chemical) not that a lab was ever there. Let me state that again: meth tests do not tell us if a meth lab was ever at the site of the test.

 

 Well, you can find out it was a lab if you know what you are looking at when you get the results (you can't use the cheap tests that just turn color in presence of Meth... you have to get a kit that will provide the actual amount of Meth present). When you get the micrograms/100 sq cm measurement, you can tell if it's from a lab or from use. Anything under 10 micrograms is most likely from use only, above 100 micrograms/100 sq cm pretty much had to be from a Meth lab. Anything between 10 and 100 could be a gray area. If there was a significant amount of use (i.e. party house or distribution center where a lot of people "tried before they buyed") or a small lab that ran only once or at most a couple of times you could see results in this range.

 

Besides getting the actual quantifiable results instead of +/- (well, depending on your circumstances and reasons to test +/- could be ok in some situations), there are a whole series of questions to ask to make sure you get a good home test kit that will give results you want. Check this out:

http://www.mappsd.org/Home%20Test%20Kits%20Checklist.htm

We disagree on that one, But it is a good discussion. I have been in, tested, and have reviewed hundreds of meth lab test results, I also conducted a study of one brand of test kit vs. analytical lab data so I do believe I know what I am looking at when I get results. As long as you keep the "likely and Pretty much qualifiers in there and don't send anyone away for 86 months over the test result-I would likely pretty much use your numbers.

  It all depends on what you sample, for example: a handprint of someone who has just handled product, or a table where a rock was cut (or large quanities cut) or a poorly ventilated room where smoking was done can yield very large results on an analytical test. Product dust will read as part per thousand or greater. To the reader think about what I am saying and what MAPP_RCSD is saying when you look at your results then make up your own mind.  Talk to your local environmental department.

I took a look at your link and now I know that you sell the test kits and you have likely guessed who I am as we have worked togather in the past.

 Thanks, MethGuy for the great discussion. I just want to clarify for you and anyone else reading this discussion that I do NOT sell test kits, test properties or clean up properties myself. I work for an organization that is making an effort (quite successfully, actually) to educate people on Meth to reduce use and raise awareness. Part of the awareness is for groups to learn how to deal with the results of Meth use as well (like Realtors/landlords) and it is in this context that I have looked into home testing kits.

 

When we educate people about the subject of testing properties, it is usually to help landlords prevent an issue (incorporating testing into the agreement between landlord and tenant, for example, can reduce the likelihood that a paranoid Meth user will want to occupy those certain properties) and/or to help a homeowner to deal with the results they may have if their tenant did contaminate the property through use or manufacture, or they purchased the home (with or without knowledge of the home's history). We have never suggested that they will be able to have a person arrested based on the results of the testing. Instead, we try to have it be forward-looking--in terms of what to do with the property or prevention as I have stated. Of course, some owners may take it upon themselves to try to go after the previous occupant in a lawsuit to get back the money they have to spend to clean it, but this is not something they get from us. They might also try to pursue an arrest through law enforcement, but I would guess that will be all but impossible and LE would probably not pursue any action based only on a positive test in a property, unless some of the evidence in the home also directly connected it to a certain person.

 

If you looked back at the previous links from my earlier posts, you may have seen a specific test kit from our website. We do not link to this from our main site anymore. Not quite sure if it is still an active page or not. For the past year or two, we have just encouraged people to do a lot of research, using the questions from our website and other information we can provide them so they know what they will be getting (and not getting as the case may be). And as you suggest, we do still use a lot of qualifiers on much of what we discuss in this area. There are just too many unknowns at this point to give any definitive information related to how much contamination is safe, how best to remove it, just what the health risks are from such exposures (after all, the levels used in most states are equivalent to an Equal packet dissolved in water and spread across an entire football field). I don't think anyone would argue that there is a point at which the level of Meth in a property becomes unsafe. The difficulty right now is in knowing what that point is (varies per individual also, i.e. asthmatics, young children, elderly who may be more vulnerable).

 

YES YES YES Please tell the new owners about the meth lab. I currently live in ahome where everyone around me tells me that there was a meth lab, even what room it was in and I am petrified! I have two young children and one on the way. My landlord denies that there was a lab in the house but he seems a little shady about the subject and kinda brushes over the subject. I am currently seeking a test that is inexpensive to find out for myself. It would be nce to know of a former lab. Please let the new owners know!

Arizona Meth Detection Services  is offering 2 FREE meth wipes to ANYONE, ANYWHERE in the world! For those thinking about renting or buying a home or car or renting a motel room, the free tests might help you to find out if meth is present.

An excerpt from their website:

"This free service is offered only once per customer.  Samples will not be returned unless a self addressed stamped return envelope is enclosed with your samples.To date, the average number of positive results is above 40% of samples received so far.  These discrete scans may have been from samples taken from places of employment, homes, hotels, cars or other sites."

 

Note: The tests are not meant to be a replacement for the professional testing that is done by an industrial hygienist, whose costs can range from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars. Consider the FREE tests, the pre-tests! If the test come back positive for meth, then there's a chance that you're dealing with a former meth lab.

 

The most accurate approach is to have a testing company do the testing.  The swabs give you a "yes" or "no" kind of thing and geneally are not as accurate as testing done by a hygeniest where the samples are shipped to a laboratory.  I do testing but I am probably a long way away from you folks and it would not be cost effective.  Know real concentrations is a good thing.

My general suggestion is to have a house tested if you have a strong suspicion that there was drug activity there prior to your buying a property.  Once the testing is done and assuming you have nothing to do with that kind of thing, you know for a fact that things are okay.  Sometimes you find out what you don't really want to know, so be sure you really want answers.