Meth tester hits back at contamination report

WELLINGTON: A methtesting company has hit back at claims the industry helped drive fears about methamphetamine contamination in homes.

Simon Fleming, director of Meth Xpert, which offers methamphetaminetesting services, said the industry had worked from governmentreleased meth standards, such as the Ministry of Health guidelines which were then superseded by the New Zealand Standard last year.

‘‘The industry hasn’t beaten it up. It’s basically been going off the standard the Government has produced at the time, and we would welcome any review of the standard at the time’’.

Chief science adviser Prof Sir Peter Gluckman has produced a report for Housing Minister Phil Twyford which says there is no evidence that thirdhand exposure from methamphetamine smoking causes adverse health effects.

Prof Gluckman said people were more at risk from mould in their home than they were from meth contamination.

‘‘In terms of the housing estate, mould is far more dangerous than meth.’’

The report has found that remediation in most cases is needed only in homes that have been former clan labs producing the drugs and where meth has been heavily used.

‘‘I can’t see the point of testing, fullstop, unless the police or the forensics suspect it has been a place of synthesis,’’ Prof Gluckman said yesterday.

Mr Twyford said he commissioned the report because of the anxiety about meth contamination and the testing and remediation industry that had grown as a result.

‘‘There has been a widelyheld 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.’’

NZ Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the panic around exposure to thirdhand methamphetamine had grown out of all proportion to the actual risks.

‘‘The message that testing is only warranted in very few cases needs to reach every Kiwi homeowner, landlord, tenant and social housing provider.

‘‘When this report sinks in, we can expect to see demand for testing to drop right away,’’ he said.

‘‘Since this shameless testing industry took hold, Housing NZ alone has spent $100 million over four years for testing and remediation, evicted countless tenants and had properties sitting vacant.’’ — NZME