Indiana Department of Environmental Management Administrative Code 318 requires a property contaminated by meth be cleaned up before anyone can live there, and a meth house cannot be sold, rented or used in any way until it has been properly cleaned and tested by a professional contractor certified by the state remediation and decontamination practices.

To help combat the issues associated with the cleanup of toxic meth residue, Dr. Kevin Slates, associate clinical professor at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and founding director of the IU Industrial Hygiene Laboratory, and Ph.D. student Aurora Le will lead a demonstration project with aims to collect indoor air quality data, and evaluate and propose recommendations to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security Administrative Code’s decontamination cleanup and sampling methods.

IU researchers will also participate in a statewide public health educational and awareness campaign to promote best practices for the decontamination and evaluation of toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of meth. Funding to support the demonstration project was provided by the City of Muncie, the Community Development Office, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The project is in collaboration with PathStone Corporation, Delaware County Health Department, the City of Muncie Community Development Office, and the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington Industrial Hygiene Laboratory.

Source: IU SPH-B