Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has gained recognition as an effective instrument for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair offers an extended timeline of substance use by embedding biomarkers within its growing strands. When taken near the scalp, hair can reveal drug and alcohol use for up to about a 3-month period. Hair is straightforward to obtain, relatively resistant to tampering, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch segment comprising around 200 hair strands (comparable to the width of a #2 pencil) closest to the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is the preferred amount for both screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional tests, and/or assessments exceeding 10 panels, a 150mg sample is advisable. We suggest weighing the sample using a jeweler's scale. If scalp hair is not an option, a comparable quantity of body hair can be used. When we mention head hair, we specifically mean scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other hair types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The primary steps in the laboratory processing of a drug test result include Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning entails the preliminary entry of a sample into a lab’s system. This step verifies that the sample was appropriately sealed and dispatched, allocates a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizes any further data input beyond what an electronic chain of custody system provides.
Screening is an initial swift test for drugs of misuse. While Screening is an economical method to eliminate drug usage in most samples, any positive screen must be verified to be court-admissible. Samples yielding a preliminary positive result during Screening require additional confirmation.
If a sample exhibits a presumptive positive result during the Screening phase, more hair is extracted from the original sample and readied for Extraction. During this phase, drugs are isolated from hair at significantly lower concentrations than other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), which makes hair drug testing the most challenging method to execute.
Positive screening results are confirmed using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All samples with preliminary positive results are washed before confirmation if needed. The comprehensive laboratory procedure from Accessioning to Confirmation undergoes review under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair classification and the ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although often called "hair follicle tests", the actual analysis is conducted on the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
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