Catalysing the clean-up of methamphetamine

With a variety of simple recipes widely available, featuring equipment and materials relatively easily obtainable, methamphetamine can be manufactured nearly anywhere. Clandestine laboratories range from rivalling legitimate drug production facilities in terms of size and sophistication to smaller ‘kitchen labs’ or ‘cooks’, with production done at a dizzying array of locations including private dwellings, hotels or motels, Airbnb properties and vehicles.^1,2 

When a clandestine laboratory is seized or production stopped, a variety of challenges remain – including whether a location can be adequately decontaminated. Sites used for smoking methamphetamine may also retain residues, though at far lower levels than detected at production sites.¹ Rendering such sites safe is often a community priority.

Cleaning up contaminated sites often starts with examining how dirty they are. The extent of contamination depends on several factors including, but not limited to, exposure levels, surface composition and environmental conditions. For clandestine laboratories, the production method used onsite also impacts surface methamphetamine concentrations.