Aussie family discovers meth in bedroom walls could be making their kids sick

At first glance, it looks like any other kids' room - but a family has discovered meth in the walls. Photo / Flinders University

At first glance, this bedroom looks like any other kids' room, with cute soft toys on the bed and a pink rocking horse fit for an aspiring princess.

But researchers at Flinders University in Australia have revealed traces of meth could be causing the children living there to experience "quite significant health issues".

Unbeknown to the family, the home had previously been used as a drug lab, resulting in the walls, furnishings, and even the soft toys being covered in methamphetamine residue.

Australian drug guidelines state that levels as small as 0.5 micrograms per 100 square cm of contaminated surfaces can be harmful, but a New Zealand report in 2018 reached the conclusion that there was no evidence of any health risks in dwellings that had been used for meth smoking.

While New Zealand previously followed the Australian level of 0.5ug/100 cm2, in 2017 the limit was raised to 1.5ug/100 cm2, before the 2018 report distinguished between meth labs and meth-smoking places and suggested the limit could even be raised to 15ug/100cm2.

Results from the latest Australian study were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Researcher Kirstin Ross said, "Our results demonstrate that methamphetamine has continued to mobilise after manufacture when the property was under new ownership for a period exceeding five years.

"This suggests that the methamphetamine is not breaking down or being removed and is constantly transferred from contaminated to non-contaminated objects.

"The house was suspected to be a premises used to cook methamphetamine, it was then sold, lived in for several years by the new owners and then left unattended.

Researchers found that meth particles remain in homes years after it's been manufactured. Photo / Flinders University

"Although the time since the cooking had taken place was significant, the levels of contamination were extremely high in both household items that were part of the house when cooking was taking place, such as blinds, carpets, walls, and also in articles brought to the house post-cooking, including rugs, toys, beds."

The research raises questions about whether or not it's safe for people to move into homes that were previously used as drug labs.

"Those who manufactured drugs before new residents have moved in have often hidden what they've done.

"There's no equipment left behind, there's no drugs around, there's nothing to indicate that property was used for that purpose.

"It looks like a normal house."

The ADF states concerns have been raised about methamphetamine contamination of residential properties in Australia and overseas, but advice on how to remediate is "confusing and unclear".

In New Zealand, it's recommended properties be tested where meth lab activity or heavy meth use is suspected.

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald