METH LABS LEAVE TRAIL OF TOXINS

WINCHESTER, Tenn. - 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.

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 Winchester, 70 miles south of
Nashville, was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left
by the previous occupant, who was 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.

With meth lab seizures on the rise nationally for the first time since
2003, similar cases are playing out in several states, drawing
attention to the problem of meth contamination, which can permeate
drywall, carpets, insulation and air ducts, causing respiratory
ailments and other health problems.

Federal data on meth lab seizures suggest that there are tens of
thousands of contaminated residences in the United States. The victims
include low-income elderly people whose homes are surreptitiously used
by relatives or in-laws to make meth, and landlords whose tenants
leave them with a toxic mess.

Some states have tried to fix the problem by requiring cleanup and, at
the time of sale, disclosure of the house's history. But the high cost
of cleaning -- $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the home,
the stringency of the requirements and the degree of contamination --
has left hundreds of properties vacant and quarantined, particularly
in Western and Southern states afflicted with meth use.

"The meth lab home problem is only going to grow," said Dawn Turner,
who started a Web site, www.methlabhomes.com, after her son lost
thousands of dollars when he bought a foreclosed home in Sweetwater,
Tenn., that turned out to be contaminated. Because less is known about
the history of foreclosed houses, Turner said, "as foreclosures rise,
so will the number of new meth lab home owners."

Meth contamination can bring financial ruin to families like that of
Francisca Rodriguez. The family dog began having seizures nine days
after the Rodriguezes moved into their home in Grapevine, Texas, near
Dallas, and their 6-year-old son developed a breathing problem similar
to asthma, said Rodriguez, 35, a stay-at-home mother of three.

After learning from neighbors that the three-bedroom ranch-style home
had been a known "drug house," the family had it tested. The air ducts
had meth levels more than 100 times higher than the most commonly
cited limit beyond which cleanup is typically required.

The former owner had marked "no" on a disclosure form asking whether
the house had ever been a meth lab, Rodriguez said. But because he is
now in prison for meth possession, among other things, the Rodriguezes
decided there was nothing to gain by suing him. They moved out,
throwing away most of their possessions because they could not be
cleaned, and are letting the house go into foreclosure.

"It makes you crazy," Rodriguez said. "Our credit is ruined, we won't
be able to buy another house, somebody exposed my kids to meth, and my
dog died."

More Busts, New Methods

Federal statistics show that the number of clandestine meth labs
discovered in the United States rose 14 percent last year, to 6,783,
and has continued to increase, in part because of a crackdown on meth
manufacturers in Mexico and in part because of the spread of a new,
easier meth-making method known as "shake and bake."

There are no national standards governing meth contamination. Congress
ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to publish cleanup
guidelines by the end of 2008, but the agency is still reviewing a
draft version. Without standards, professional cleaners say, it is
easy to bungle a job that often requires gutting and repeated washing.

About 20 states have passed laws requiring meth contamination cleanup,
and they use widely varied standards. Virtually all the laws hold the
property owner financially responsible; Colorado appears to be the
only state that allots federal grant money to help innocent property
owners faced with unexpected cleanup jobs.

In other states, like Georgia, landlords and other real estate owners
have fought a proposed cleanup law.

After the Holts bought their house, Tennessee passed such a law. But
since 2005, only 81 of 303 homes placed under a resulting quarantine
have been cleaned, according to the state, which has one of the few
registries tracking meth lab addresses. The law applies only if the
police find a working meth lab at the house, and Jerry Hood, a lawyer
and cleanup contractor hired by the Holts for the decontamination
work, said many houses in the county had escaped the
legislation.

The health effects of meth contamination are frequently difficult to
prove, and research is scant. But John W. Martyny, a meth expert at
the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, said living
in a former meth lab makes children more likely to develop learning
disabilities and caused long-term respiratory and skin problems.

Even brief exposure can have severe effects, Martyny said. A 2007
study by the Denver center found that more than 70 percent of law
enforcement officials who had inspected meth labs subsequently
reported health problems.

To Holt's horror, inspectors found high concentrations of meth on her
kitchen countertops, where she sterilized bottles, prepared baby food
and doled out snacks.

"We had no idea that we were starting a family in a meth house," she
said. "We bought a house that eventually was going to sentence our
family to death."