WASHINGTON -- Two weeks after Congress moved to crack down on methamphetamine cooks, pediatricians urged lawmakers Monday not to forget about children, "the silent victims" of the drug.
About a third of the busts of home meth labs include children, who are often found hungry, filthy and living in environments so toxic that authorities have to wear respirators and Hazmat suits as they lead them out.
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Their teddy bears and other toys, coated with noxious chemicals, have to be left behind.
"What I saw was neglect beyond anything I had ever seen," said Penny Grant, a pediatrician who responded to meth cases in Tulsa, Okla. "These kids had not seen the inside of a bathtub in weeks."
The purpose of Monday's meeting on Capitol Hill was to brief congressional aides on the ravages of meth on families. Meth is a highly addictive stimulant that can lead to paranoia, crime and violence.
Several participants said children stuck in meth households had received scant attention from lawmakers focused on passing legislation that limits the sale of pseudoephedrine used to cook the drug.
The group showed scores of photos where meth and other chemicals were strewn about a home, hidden in a child's night stand, kept in the fridge beside baskets of strawberries and even stored in bottles of soda.
Meth lab fires and explosions are common, sometimes leaving children scarred with chemical burns, they said at the meeting organized by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
But what happens to the physical and mental development of children who inhale or accidentally ingest meth chemicals is less known.
About one-half of the children found in meth households have traces of the drug in their system, experts said.
The pediatricians called for greater research into the long-term effects of the drug, as well as national standards for the clean-up of labs.
Legislation signed by President Bush earlier this month limits individual purchases of pseudoephedrine, which must now be stored behind a pharmacy counter or inside a locked cabinet under the law.
The law also makes it easier for authorities to track international bulk shipments of pseudoephedrine to countries such as Mexico, where meth super labs have spurred the U.S. epidemic.
