A new report from the Prime Minister’s science advisor shows that residue from meth smoking causes little to no adverse health effects.
The report shows that though methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive drug; methamphetamine residue on surfaces poses little to no risk to human health.
“No one is underplaying the social damage caused by meth, but there should be a scientific basis for what are acceptable levels of meth in the current New Zealand context, and remediation of houses should be proportional to the established health risks,” said Housing and Urban Development Minister, Phil Twyford.
“I was concerned December last year, and I remain so, that there has been some anxiety about meth contamination, and a testing and remediation industry has grown up around this,
“There has been a widely held perception that the presence of even low levels of meth residue in a house poses a health risk to occupants. As a result, remediation to eliminate contamination has been an extremely costly business for landlords and an upheaval for tenants being evicted at short notice.”
In June 2017, a new national standard was introduced to guide landlords on the testing and clean-up of methamphetamine houses, with the aim of making meth houses safer.
Dr Nicholas Powell of Forensic and Industrial Science has countless experience testing for meth and said he could find traces of the drug in half of all North Island motels, and a third of South Island motels.
There is currently no evidence that third-hand exposure to methamphetamine (residing in a dwelling previously used for manufacture or smoking) can cause adverse health effects.
The report suggests that testing is only recommended where meth lab activity is suspected, and remedial action is only warranted if meth levels signal that manufacture is likely to have taken place in the building. The remediation process generally includes removing all potentially contaminated materials or items such as furnishings and carpets, as well as deep cleaning for all contaminated surfaces.
The current standard level of meth contamination suggested for a clean-up, 1.5 µg/100 cm2, is much too low, and instead, only levels of 15 µg/100 cm2 and higher would be likely to cause any health risk.
