Meth labs popping up in motel rooms

You don't have to be a meth user to be affected by it.

"Probably people have gotten into meth labs and haven't really known it," said John W. Martyny, PhD, CIH, Associate Professor,National Jewish Health

Meth labs are popping up in motel rooms across the country.

Residue can linger for years. Exposure can cause skin and eye irritation, asthma and nausea - symptoms that can be written off as something else.

Kids are a big concern.

"These little toddlers that are close to the ground end up with really, really heavy exposures, and at the same time, they have less body mass, and so every little bit affects them more than it does you," said Martyny.

Experts say if your motel room neighbor is making too much noise in the middle of the night, be wary about knocking on their door. Weapons are almost always found during meth lab busts. 

The cost of testing and decontaminating a single motel room can run anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000.

The U.S. Drug enforcement administration reports finding drug-making evidence in almost 2,000 motel rooms in the past five years. Experts say many more have gone unreported.