New Standard Raises the Bar for Meth Testing, Says IANZ

New Standard Raises the Bar for Meth Testing, Says IANZ

Testing properties for methamphetamine contamination is no longer a hit and miss affair, says International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ).

Problems have arisen in the past with the same companies testing properties and also providing cleaning services, a clear conflict of interest, says IANZ CEO Dr Llew Richards. www.ianz.govt.nz

“That led to some property owners spending a small fortune, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, on decontamination that wasn’t actually necessary.

“Now that Standards New Zealand has published a standard on the testing and decontamination of methamphetamine contaminated properties (NZS8510), there’s light at the end of the tunnel. That’s because the new standard requires complete independence of cleaning companies and test providers.”

Many testing companies have been relying on cheap, instant answer test kits. However, these kits are of unproven reliability and may find a property is contaminated when it does not need to be cleaned. The new standard requires instant answer kits to be rigorously validated before they can be used to comply with the standard.

Sampling for methamphetamine requires a good level of understanding of where methamphetamine accumulates in a property and how it is made and used in order to sample the right places and surface types. The new standard requires samplers to have appropriate training and competence before they can claim compliance with the standard.

Before a property owner makes any decision on decontamination work, the standard requires a detailed assessment by an IANZ-accredited organisation to determine how bad the decontamination is, and where it is above acceptable levels. After decontamination, another detailed assessment is also required by an IANZ-accredited organisation. Assuming the contamination is now below the acceptable level, the cleaning company is able to produce a clearance certificate.

“Using IANZ-accredited laboratories and inspection bodies provides confidence the organisations are fully independent, use competent people and technically reliable methods,” says Dr Richards. “IANZ accreditation also means accredited organisations keep good records and have effective monitoring and complaint management systems.”

NZS8510 is not mandatory but property owners should demand services that comply with the standard if they want reliable and impartial information to minimise any decontamination work that may be needed, says IANZ.

ENDS

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