Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing has emerged as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair serves as a prolonged archive of alcohol and substances by embedding markers in the strands of hair as it grows. When hair is taken close to the head, it can reveal a detection span of up to three months for drugs and alcohol. Collecting hair is straightforward, resistant to tampering, and simple to send.
A sample measuring 1.5 inches, containing approximately 200 strands of hair, equivalent to the size of a #2 pencil nearby the head, yields 100mg, which is the preferred amount for analysis and validation. For EtG, additional tests, and screens beyond 10 panels, it is advised to have 150mg of the specimen. Using a jeweler’s scale to measure the specimen is recommended. In cases where scalp hair is not accessible, an equivalent amount of body hair is an alternative. The term scalp hair exclusively refers to head hair, while body hair encompasses other hair types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The drug test outcome processing in a laboratory involves four key stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning pertains to the sample's primary processing into a lab’s system, including ensuring the sample was correctly sealed and sent, allocating a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizing any other data entry absent from an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening is a preliminary assessment for drugs of abuse. Although Screening is a budget-friendly measure to exclude drug use in most samples, any positive screen must be verified to stand in legal proceedings. Samples that test positive preliminarily in Screening require additional validation.
If a sample turns up positive presumptively during the Screening phase, excess hair is extracted from the original specimen and prepped for Extraction. During this phase, drugs are isolated from hair at a significantly reduced ratio compared to other processes (ex. urine or saliva), underscoring the complexity of hair drug screening.
For verification of any positive screening outcomes, GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS methods are employed. Presumptively positive samples undergo washing before being confirmed as necessary. The complete lab process from Accessioning to Confirmation adheres to both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair classification and is accredited under ISO / IEC 17025 norms.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Commonly referred to as "hair follicle tests", this test examines the hair strand and not the scalp's follicle itself.
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Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Roodhouse, IL
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