Home Buyers Might Want to Invest in Meth Test, Too

Those buying homes in the US have learned over the years to check for things like mold and radon. As a couple in Indiana learned, it might be wise to add meth to the list, reports ABC News. Chris and Jenny Nugent bought a $144,000 house in suburban Indianapolis and couldn't figure out why their two daughters and infant son kept getting sick, nor could they find the source of the strange odor ("like a handful of change") in the house. After a neighbor voiced suspicions about the previous owner, the Nugents had their home tested for methamphetamine levels—and learned they were off the charts. They had apparently bought a former meth lab in the 'burbs, and the toxic residue was sickening them.

“You’ve seen the 'Faces of Meth,' what happens to a person who takes the chemicals inside of their bodies and see how it is deteriorating the body itself," the owner of an Indiana cleaning company tells AlJazeera America. "It’s doing the same thing to the home. It’s making the home very sick with toxic chemicals on the walls, on the carpet, and through the ventilation systems." Cleanup is expensive—the Florida Times-Union cites an example of a "golf community" home in St. Johns County in which the bill hit $40,000—but test kits can be picked up for $50 or so. (It might be wise to check for poisonous spiders, too.)