"Disgustingly sick": Family's horrifying find in rental home
<p>A family of six have been forced to move out of their rental home after discovering it had disturbing levels of meth residue. </p>
<p>The family became “disgustingly sick” after moving into the home located in Sandstone Point Queensland and were told to pay for toxicity testing and decontamination by their real estate agency. </p>
<p>What the tests revealed shocked them, with dangerous levels of methamphetamine residue found in the lounge room, bedrooms, bathrooms and, worst of all, the space used as a toy room for their children. </p>
<p>“(It was) basically everywhere,” Queensland mum Emily Thornton told <em>7News</em>. </p>
<p>She added that it was "disgusting" to know that her four kids played in that toxic environment. </p>
<p>According to the Clandestine Drug Laboratory Remediation Guidelines, a safe level of meth residue is below 0.5 micrograms per 100 sq cm. </p>
<p>Their house had 1.3 micrograms per 100 sq cm - which is reportedly enough to put people's lives at risk. </p>
<p>The house was allegedly once used as a meth lab, and the family only got it tested for toxicity when a neighbour, who was suspicious of the previous tenants, flagged the possibility.</p>
<p>Now, the family has been left homeless. </p>
<p>“We’re not allowed in there,” Thornton said. </p>
<p>“Basically, we’re starting from scratch — we’ve got nothing, absolutely nothing at all.”</p>
<p>Thornton also added that her family first started feeling sick shortly after they moved in. </p>
<p>“We moved in, (and) we lived here for a little while, (and then) everyone started getting sick,” she said. </p>
<p>“We were told by the neighbours that they suspected something going on here, so we decided to contact a company to get them to come out and do some testing, and the testing came back positive for meth.”</p>
<p>“They’ve told us just to get out, we’ve just taken what we’ve got and walked out the door.”</p>
<p>On top of being homeless, the family had to pay $500 for the toxicity and decontamination testing as both the agent and landlord refused to help them pay to get the home tested. </p>
<p>“They weren’t interested, and it was up to us to do it if we wanted to do it," Thorton said.</p>
<p><em>7News</em> reported that the real estate agency will ensure that the property is decontaminated, but the family will still have to pay the cost of an emergency accommodation. </p>
<p>“We just don’t know what we’re going to do. We don’t have the money to pay for it,” Thornton said.</p>
<p>Australian Meth Alerts spokesperson David Pie said that Meth residue is a common problem that often gets ignored as the contamination is odourless and invisible to the human eye. </p>
<p>“It is a well-known fact within the real estate industry with property managers that this is a real issue," he said. </p>
<p>“It’s out of control … and it’s just getting ignored,” he added, </p>
<p>“In the worst instances, it can cause death, in particular among young kids. But it creates anger and sleeping problems — it just goes on and on and on.”</p>
<p>He also said that it was "wrong" for Thornton's family to pay out-of-pocket for the tests. </p>
<p><em>Image: 7News</em></p>
