Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has evolved into a formidable method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. The fibers of a growing hair strand capture biomarkers, offering a comprehensive long-term history of substance use. When sourced near the scalp, hair can provide a detection timeline for substances like alcohol extending up to roughly three months. Hair is effortless to collect, quite resistant to tampering, and simple to transport.
A sample measuring 1.5 inches comprising around 200 hair strands (approximately the width of a #2 pencil) nearest the scalp yields 100mg of hair, which is the optimal sample size for analysis and validation. For tests such as EtG, additional panels, or those exceeding 10 panels, 150mg of the sample is advised. It is suggested to weigh the sample using a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair is not present, equivalent body hair may be acquired. When discussing head hair, we refer exclusively to scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other hair varieties (facial, axillary, etc.).
Procedure Summary
The key phases in processing a drug test in a lab include Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning encompasses the preliminary processing into a laboratory's database. This process involves ensuring the sample is secure and correctly dispatched, assigning a unique LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any supplementary data that isn't captured by an electronic chain-of-custody system.
Screening consists of a quick preliminary evaluation for substance abuse. Although a cost-efficient approach to dismiss drug usage in most samples, a positive screen must be validated for legal acceptance. Samples deemed positive at this stage necessitate further confirmation.
When a sample is flagged as potentially positive during Screening, additional hair is extracted from the original specimen 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 contributes to the complexity of hair drug screening.
GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS is used to confirm any positive screening outcomes. Instances of presumptive positivity undergo a pre-confirmation wash if necessary. Reviewed from Accessioning to Confirmation under the guidance of CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair standards and accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 standards.
Benefits of hair drug analysis:
Drawbacks:
Important: Though commonly called "hair follicle tests", the analysis targets the hair strand, not the follicle residing under the scalp.
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Mora, GA
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