Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is recognized as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair retains a record of alcohol and drug usage by encapsulating biomarkers within the hair shaft's growing fibers. When obtained close to the scalp, it can offer a detection period of up to about three months for both alcohol and drugs. The sample is easy to gather, hard to tamper with, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch sample consisting of roughly 200 hair strands (similar in size to a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp yields 100mg, which is the optimal quantity for test screening and validation. For EtG, additional tests, or for those exceeding 10 panels, 150mg of the sample is advisable. It's best to measure the sample using a jeweler’s scale. If no scalp hair is present, an equivalent quantity of body hair can be used. By head hair, we mean scalp hair only. Body hair includes all other varieties of hair (e.g., facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The procedure for laboratory processing of drug test results comprises four principal stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning refers to the initial integration of a sample into a laboratory’s workflow. This step ensures the sample’s seal and shipment were secure, allocates a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and fills in any missing data not supplied by an electronic chain of custody.
The Screening phase offers an initial swift check to identify drug abuse. While cost-effective for negating drug usage in most samples, a positive Screening result requires confirmation to be valid in court. Samples showing presumptive positives in Screening necessitate a confirmatory analysis.
If Screening reports a presumptive positive, more hair is retrieved from the original sample for Extraction. Here, drugs are extracted at a much lower potency than alternative methods (e.g., urine or saliva), underscoring hair drug screening as the most challenging technique to execute.
Any positive result from Screening is corroborated via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All samples that are presumptive positives undergo washing as part of confirmation if necessary. The laboratory sequence from Accessioning through Confirmation is evaluated with the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair guideline and adheres to ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: The term "hair follicle tests" can be misleading; the analysis is conducted on the hair shaft, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
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