Controversy surrounds Utah study on meth lab effects on First Responders

The results of a $500,000, two year study ordered by Utah legislators that was designed to examine meth lab exposure and health effects was announced on Wednesday. The approval of the study was prompted when law enforcement officers filed claims for workman’s compensation, alleging that their health problems were directly related to their unprotected exposure to meth lab chemicals during the last 2 decades. A KSL investigation revealed that nearly half of 42 cops who were exposed to meth labs in the 80s and 90s, either suffered chronic health problems or have since died.

The study revealed that no connection could be found between the health problems and premature deaths of those police officers and meth lab chemicals. The researchers admit however, that the study was small and should be investigated further. Dr. Hegman was quoted as saying “There are other things we could do to try and investigate this further. And we would be very interested in doing that, but that’s a decision for the policymakers.” And Representative Jackie Biskupski, D-District 30 said “There were so many complaints around that whole study, the way it was being handled. To put more money into their hands to complete this critical study, I think, would be the wrong thing to do.” Biskupski would like the study done again by a different research group.

The current study would deny First Responders any right to collect workman’s compensation. Yet, Dr. John Martyny, and industrial hygienist and associate professor at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, a renowned expert who has studied meth labs and health issues, worries that homes where no active meth cooks are occurring pose a significant threat to public health, “People who enter structures that once housed meth labs may experience severe pulmonary reactions, especially asthmatics and caustic chemicals can scar lungs and cause respiratory complications.” Yet, Utah’s study results essentially say that you can’t get sick from walking in to an active meth lab, when there are known toxic effects of the chemicals used to make meth. For example, benzene is a known cancer causing agent and that is just one of dozens of chemicals found in meth lab homes.

In my opinion, Representative Jackie Biskupski is absolutely right that a different research group should be asked to study the issue.  In the meantime though, law enforcement officers and their families still wait for an answer as they battle their illnesses and mourn for the friends and co-workers they’ve lost.  And unfortunately for taxpayers in Utah, a half million taxpayer dollars is gone for a study that even the researchers involved in it admit that was not an adequate study of the connection between meth lab exposure and health issues.

Source: Prichard, Lori, “Study finds no link between meth labs and illnesses”, 11/19/08, ksl.com

Source: Wagner, Matt, “Who cleans up the meth?”, 3/13/05, newsleader.com