SACRAMENTO, CA — The final draft of a new state standard for cleaning residual contamination from methamphetamine labs has been released for public review, according to The Press-Enterprise.
In 2006, California adopted a provisional law that requires property owners hire a contractor to assess the property and develop a cleaning plan, then clean the property to reduce contamination to at least 1.5 micrograms per 100 square centimeters; other states, including Washington, Oregon and Colorado, have adopted meth cleanup standards ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 micrograms per 100 square centimeters, the story stated.
Residue from meth labs can linger for months on walls, carpets, countertops and clothing, making children particularly susceptible to exposure because they explore by crawling and putting things into their mouths, the story noted.
Though the new standard requires a former methamphetamine lab site be tested, it does not specify how the site should be tested, the story added.
Popular methods for testing surfaces are swipe samples that can be taken to a lab for analysis and portable, hand-held instruments that can analyze a swipe sample on the spot.
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Posted On January 7, 2009
