Hair Follicle Drug Testing - South Divide, CO

Employment, DOT, Court Ordered, Personal

Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG

Accredited Drug Testing provides thorough hair follicle drug testing services in South Divide, Colorado. If you're in need of a hair or alcohol test, Accredited Drug Testing is your go-to for expert hair testing. We boast testing centers across the nation available to conduct hair tests. Typically, 1.5 to 2 inches of hair from your head's crown or body is needed. Hair tests can be analyzed for drugs, alcohol/ETG, or other tailored options.

Recently, hair follicle drug tests have become a more common method for drug detection. Numerous employers, judicial systems, and Substance Abuse experts favor hair testing over traditional urine tests. Employers with strict no-drug policies, courts, and those on probation rely on hair follicle tests. The key advantage is a longer detection timeframe, up to 90 days, with observed sample collection, making them nearly impossible to falsify. Despite this, urine tests remain the most effective for recent drug use within a 5-day window.

* You must register by phone or online to receive your donor pass/registration prior to proceeding to the testing center. You must bring a valid government issued ID along with the registration/barcode number which was sent to you by email.

When you're searching for hair drug testing near me or hair drug testing locations, we provide a simple and convenient process to find a drug and alcohol testing location near you that is certified to provide all of your drug and alcohol testing needs.

(800) 221-4291

What it is, How it works

Seen as a potent method, hair testing identifies drug and alcohol consumption through biomarkers trapped in hair strands as they grow. When cut close to the scalp, hair can show up to a 3-month history for drug and alcohol use. Hair collection is straightforward, hard to manipulate, and straightforward to transport.

A 1.5-inch section of approximately 200 hair strands (similar to a #2 pencil) from the scalp will yield 100mg, suitable for both screening and confirmation. For EtG analyses and/or tests beyond 10 panels, 150mg is advised. We suggest using a jeweler’s scale for precise measurement. If scalp hair cannot be collected, a comparable quantity of body hair can be used. In context, head hair refers exclusively to scalp hair. Body hair includes all other types (facial, axillary, etc.).

Process Overview

The processing of a drug test result in the lab follows four major steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.

Accessioning is the initial incorporation of a sample into a lab's database. This step ensures the sample's seal and shipment are intact, assigns an arbitrary LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and adds any necessary data not captured by an electronic custody chain.

Screening is a preliminary assessment for drug traces. While Screening is cost-effective for most samples, court-admissible reports require a confirmed positive screen. Presumptive positives in Screening need further confirmation.

If a Screening result is presumptively positive, more hair from the initial sample undergoes Extraction. Here, drugs are extracted from hair at lower concentrations compared to methodologies like urine or oral fluid tests, underscoring the technical challenge of hair drug screening.

GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS are used to confirm any positive screening outcomes. Before confirmation, samples with presumptive positives are washed when necessary. The entire lab process, from Accessioning to Confirmation, is audited under the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.

Advantages of hair drug testing:

Extended detection period: Hair drug tests track drug use for about 90 days, unlike urine tests which have a shorter window.
Hard to deceive: Cheating a hair test is highly challenging, ensuring more precise outcomes.
Historical insight: Hair tests reveal drug use trends over time, not just latest consumption.

Limitations:

Cannot detect recent consumption: Drugs need around 5-7 days for hair detection.
Expense: Hair tests generally cost more than alternate drug testing methods.
Result variability: Hair color and growth rate can impact drug metabolite levels in hair.

Note: Often termed "hair follicle tests", the procedure actually analyzes the hair strand, not the follicle under the scalp.