Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing is recognized as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair serves as a chronological record for substances by embedding biomarkers within the strands as they grow. When samples are taken near the scalp, they can reveal substance use over a period of around three months. Hair collection is straightforward, difficult to falsify, and convenient for transport.
A section measuring 1.5 inches, containing approximately 200 strands (comparable to a #2 pencil's diameter), near the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is suitable for analysis. For EtG, additional panels, or tests exceeding 10 panels, a test sample of 150mg is preferable. Measuring the sample with a jeweler's scale is advisable. In the event that scalp hair isn't available, an equivalent amount of hair from another part of the body can be used. "Head hair" refers exclusively to hair on the scalp, whereas "body hair" encompasses all other hair types like facial or axillary hair.
Process Overview
The analysis of a drug test involves these core steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning is the step where a sample is first incorporated into a lab's workflow, involving the verification of proper sealing and shipment, assigning a LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing data entry tasks if not already done by electronic means.
Screening entails a preliminary assessment for substance presence. Although it's a cost-efficient way to discount drug use in most cases, any positive findings from Screening must be substantiated for legal proceedings. Samples indicating potential substance presence in Screening are required to undergo further verification.
Upon preliminary positive indications in Screening, a portion of the original hair sample is extracted for the Extraction process, which isolates drugs at concentrations lower than typical methods like urine or oral fluid tests, underscoring the complexity of hair analysis.
To affirm any positive from Screening, techniques like GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS are used. Before confirmation, positive samples are cleansed as necessary. The entire sequence from Accessioning to Confirmation undergoes evaluation in accordance with the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair criteria and ISO / IEC 17025 certification.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Referred to as "hair follicle tests," this procedure evaluates the strand rather than the subscalp follicle.
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Lynn, AR
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Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Lynn, AR
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