Features Meth Labs: The Gases Can Kill You

1 By David KuiawaThe early morning sun is just about to break the s 06:00, the wind is deadly calm, and the dim lightdances across the frosty meadow; the only thing thatstands between your team and an innocent looking , this farmhouse is far from benign. You have receivednumerous complaints about strange smells wafting from theproperty, there is traffic coming and going at all hours of thenight, and there is a small dump containing cold medicine bot-tles, modified propane tanks, solventcontainers, and lithium battery of the evidence points to the exis-tence of a small clandestine drug lab onthe have been in this situationbefore; the nervous feeling you harboronly serves to heighten your sense ofalert.

2 As you brief your team before theraid there are a thousand things racingthrough your mind. On the top of thelist is a review of the hazards you mayencounter. Most obvious are the physi-cal ones. You ve heard of everythingfrom landmines, homemade bombs,and automatic weapons, to snakes,tigers, and rotweilers. The tweekers running this place will do everythingthey can to keep from getting while the bullets, bombs, andbooby traps are certainly a concern,there are also unseen gas hazards that can be even more clandestine drug lab, or clan lab for short, is really a crudechemistry lab operated by people ranging in experience. Thosedesignated to cook the product have backgrounds that varyfrom Chemical Engineers to Junkies just looking for the nexthigh.

3 The stability of the situation is highly LabsThe most popular of all the clan labs are the ones that producemethamphetamine or meth. Methamphetamine is a stimulantthat is generally sold in a crystal or powder form. It is ingestedor smoked and is highly addictive. Meth production is quite sim-ple and highly profitable. The majority of the chemicals requiredto produce the stimulant are commonly available and the toolsneeded to conduct the cook are in just about everyone s house. Nazi Dope Method and HazardsThere are two main ways of cooking meth. The first method iscalled the Nazi Dope method and it is for small quantities pro-duction. This method is most popular for the manufacturer/userand it is very hard to produce distributable quantities this process starts with ephedrine or psydoephedrine (over-the-counter cold medicine); the pills are then crushed and mixedwith a common solvent such as acetone or lacquer thinner.

4 Thisis done to free the ephedrine from the binder. The mixture isthen filtered to leave the solvent/ephedrine mixture behind. Themixture is then allowed to sit so the solvent can evaporate leav-ing powdered ephedrine. This first stage of the process is highlyvolatile and the risk of explosion is elevated due to the free sol-vent vapors in the powdered ephedrine is then com-bined with lithium battery strips from dis-assembled batteries and anhydrousammonia is added. The chemical reactionresults in a material called meth the second stage of the process,toxic ammonia gas is present due to theuncontrolled use of liquid next step of the process involvesmanufacturing a crude hydrogen chloridegas generator.

5 This is accomplished bycombining common acids and rock hydrogen chloride gas is then bub-bled through the meth oil and meth crys-tals fall out of the solution. In the finalstage of the process, deadly hydrogenchloride gas is present and poses a severehealth risk. RP Method and Hazards The second method for cooking meth isthe Red Phosphorous or RP method. This method is designed toproduce large quantities of meth but also produces large quan-tities of hazardous waste. The RP method is the technique usedmost by super labs which are often run by organized RP lab is a bit more sophisticated and controlled. It oftenhas laboratory grade equipment and is staffed by chemists inorder to maximize production and RP process follows the same process as the Nazi Dopemethod and continues consistent until powdered ephedrineresults.

6 The powder is then mixed with red phosphorous(extracted from match packs and flare strikers) and iodine. Themixture immediately begins to produce hydriodic acid and toxicphosphine mixture is heated in a controlled environment and thecook lasts 6 8 hours. During the process, the off- Gases need tobe cooled to minimize phosphine gas production, which willrange anywhere from 5% to 95% by volume - extremely Protecting ThemselvesYou should never consider entering a suspected chemical lab20 THE FIRE SERVICES JOURNAL, July/August 2004 FeaturesMeth labs : The Gases Can kill YouInfoNumber 33without a gas monitoring device that will quantify the lev-els of deadly toxic and explosive combustible Gases .

7 Untilrecently, however, the only technology available to moni-tor the phosphine, ammonia, and hydrogen chloridegases associated with meth labs were colorimetric indica-tor tubes. These glass tubes were cumbersome, took sev-eral minutes to react, and were grossly , we now have direct reading gas moni-tors with the capability of monitoring these five targetgases simultaneously and continuously. And with lithi-um-ion battery technology that will run for 24 hours ona single charge and sampling pumps that can sampledraw from a range of 100 feet, firefighters and HazMatteams can now also be effective while remaining at new technology also means that firefighters cannow play a vital role in evidence gathering since theammonia, phosphine, hydrogen chloride, oxygen, andcombustible gas monitors are also able to documentwho is using the monitor and where they are using this with the capability to interface with auto-mated calibration systems that control calibration,bump testing routines, and the timing of them .

8 And thefact that routines can be documented on a PC to provethe accuracy of the monitor as well as produce printedcertificates to confirm and validate evidence of the cal-ibration, the data is now generally legally admissible,and supportive to the effort of reducing the clandestinedrug lab hazard to the chaseUltimately, the goal is increased safety. In this sometimesdirty business, where criminals are willing to break thelaw and jeopardize emergency responders with traps andhazards, firefighters should always be looking to newtechnology as a means of better protecting themselvesfrom the hazards - especially from the five target gasesassociated with meth Kuiawa is Sales Manager, North and SouthAmerica for Industrial Scientific Corporation.

9 He hasbeen with ISC for 14 years serving in various capacitiesincluding Manager of Customer Services, ServiceManager, and Sales and Training Coordinator. Dave maybe contacted at (800) Phosphorous (Red P) Method: Manufacturing methodof choice for large quantities production. Super labs usethe RP method of manufacturing Manufacturing Processes and HazardsNazi Dope Method: Manufacturing method of choice forsmall batches. Can be manufactured using commonhousehold items. Most common manufacturing methodamong user/manufacturers.