DENVER -- The illegal production of methamphetamine is booming in Colorado and while police are busting those labs by the dozens, there's a hidden threat left behind.

There could be hundreds of families who have moved into former meth homes and apartments without knowing it, 7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia said.

There are no long-term studies showing what effect high levels of residual meth has on adults or children but anecdotal evidence points to serious respiratory problems -- problems an unknowing homeowner might never connect to a former meth lab.

"I began getting burning in my respiratory track, eyes, ears, nose, pretty severe burning of the hands and feet, nausea, and sleeplessness," said Jean Michael.

Michael lived in an Estes Park duplex only a short time, while she was looking for a home, and couldn't figure out why she felt so bad. She had moved to Estes Park for the clean air. Then a local realtor told her the duplex had been a meth house -- something her landlord wasn't required to disclose.

"I was shocked. Absolutely shocked. I knew it was harmful. It had to be harmful," Michael said.

Nationwide and in the state, the number of meth busts are skyrocketing. Children of meth-addicted parents are suffering the effects of chemical contamination and are straining resources of social services. Chemical explosions have put neighborhoods at risk and police are often affected for weeks after being contaminated in raids.

Even so, law enforcement officials say the drug is so prolific they estimate that for every lab they shut down, nine others go undetected. Just in the past three years there have been more than 1,000 meth seizures in counties across Colorado.

"As they smoke it or they manufacture it, it diffuses throughout the house," said Jerry Spainhower, who is in the business of cleaning meth houses.

He said it is often a disturbing task, knowing that children lived in rooms coated with the toxic drug.

"It is prudent for us to go ahead and make an assumption, based on our wall sampling, to dispose of all this as meth-contaminated waste. That way, we won't have any situations in the future where a kid is going to rub on it or want to take a piece off and put it in his mouth," Spainhower said.

But in the bowels of the house, the contamination is even worse because it is where the actual laboratory was located.

"If you look on the floor you will see there a large chemical burn area," Spainhower said. "We may end up tearing the duct work out. That's happened in some of the houses we have done."

"It infiltrates every nook and cranny and that is why it's so labor intensive," he said.

Even though he does an extensive job cleaning, Spainhower said he would not want his family living in that home.

"We can never be absolutely, 100percent sure this house is clean," he said.

But anyone could buy the place never knowing it was a meth lab because no one has to tell.

Michael said no one told her about her duplex but after her asthma worsened and she suffered other symptoms for weeks, she had the duplex tested and found it was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine.

"The interesting thing is when you start looking at things that are very porous, carpeting for instance, look at the levels we have now -- 421 micrograms in a square foot of carpeting. That's 800 times what we'd expect," said Dr. John Martyny, an associate professor at National Jewish Hospital in Denver.

Working with the North Metro Drug Task Force, he has produced several controlled experiments to study how contamination spreads in homes, apartments, and motels.

He interpreted the test data from Michael's duplex and had serious concerns, not only for her, but for her visiting grandchildren.

"It becomes airborne and children, of course, playing on the carpeting, get it on their hands, on their clothing and everything. And of course, children put things in their mouth a lot," Martyny said.

"We have legislation regarding mold, disclosure regarding mold, legislation covering asbestos, radon. I think this issue is a hidden issue, much less obvious to the consumer, and equally as dangerous if not more," Michael said.

Will the state legislature act to protect Coloradoans from the dangers of secondary meth exposure? On Friday night, hear from a family whose daughter is still affected by meth exposure two years after moving out.

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