Meth - the Dark Crystal

Although this blog has mostly focused on radiation detection, we also have quite a bit of expertise in the chemical detection field, and we support law enforcement in their mission to mitigate threats to the public from drug production and chemical accidents.

From its street cost to the health effects it causes, the drug methamphetamine (meth) is expensive – an ounce of pure meth is worth up to 10 times than of an ounce of pure gold. The real problem with meth usage is that the meth’s cost to users in consumption and health problems is dwarfed by meth’s cost to society. This cost comes in the form of increased funding to health care, law enforcement, and cleanup procedures, and was estimated at $23.4 billion dollars in 2010¹.

source

 The most common source of meth is small home labs – the DEA reported 11,239 meth lab seizures last year alone² – which are often set up in motels, trailers, and rental properties. The production of meth involves a number of extremely hazardous chemicals, including:

·  Acetone

·  Ammonium Sulfate

·  Sulfuric Acid

·  Methanol

·  Mineral Spirits

·  Muriatic Acid

·  Organic Ether

·  Toluene

These chemicals are often absorbed into the walls, floor, and ceiling of a meth lab home and cause serious health problems for its residents for years to come. Take this example of a family from Tennessee that was featured in a New York Times article:

The spacious home where the newly wed Rhonda and Jason Holt began their family in 2005 was plagued by mysterious illnesses. The Holts’ three babies were ghostlike and listless, with breathing problems that called for respirators, repeated trips to the emergency room and, for the middle child, Anna, the heaviest dose of steroids a toddler can take. Ms. Holt, a nurse, developed migraines. She and her husband, a factory worker, had kidney ailments. It was not until February, more than five years after they moved in, that the couple discovered the root of their troubles: their house, across the road from a cornfield in this town some 70 miles south of Nashville, was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left by the previous occupant, who had been dragged from the attic by the police. The Holts’ next realization was almost as devastating: it was up to them to spend the $30,000 or more that cleanup would require.

Stories like this are in nowise uncommon; there are an estimated 1 to 1.5 million homes that are previously or currently being used to produce meth³. Although most of these homes appear no differently than other residences, many working meth labs do exhibit telltale signs, including:

 

·   Storage of large amounts of household items such as the chemicals listed above, matches, salt, Coleman fuel, plastic containers, coolers, and aluminum foil

·  Accumulation of garbage including red- or yellow-stained rags and coffee filters, latex gloves, empty cans, bottles, and plastic tubing

·  Chemical staining on walls and floors

·  Covering or blacking-out of windows

·  Security measures such as cameras or baby monitors outside of buildings or guard dogs

·  Unusual traffic patterns, such as excessive night traffic or large numbers of visitors with short stays

·  Burn pits, stained soil or dead vegetation indicating dumped chemicals or waste from a meth lab

·  Abnormal chemical odors not normally associated with apartments, houses or buildings. These odors may be similar to sweet, bitter, ammonia or solvent smells

More sophisticated equipment is often used by law enforcement to monitor meth lab activities and find areas that may be contaminated by previous meth lab use. D-tect Systems’ Chem-ID is a valuable asset in this search. The Chem-ID is a portable chemical detector that can identify over 100 different chemicals including many of those used in the production of meth. This device can identify multiple chemicals at once, and can even identify chemicals at a concentration as low as several parts-per-billion. The Chem-ID can gather samples near a suspected meth lab and analyze them on the spot, giving law enforcement valuable information about the status of the site.

The Chem-ID being operated remotely via Bluetooth

To find more information on meth, check out the Drug Enforcement Agency’s website at www.dea.gov or www.methlabhomes.com, an excellent nonprofit website with up-to-date statistics and news reports.

D-tect Systems is supplier of advanced radiation and chemical detection equipment sold around the world. www.dtectsystems.com.