Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing has emerged as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. It captures a long-term record of substance use by embedding biomarkers within the hair strand's fibers. When gathered near the scalp, hair can provide a detection window of up to three months for various substances. It is easy to collect, relatively resistant to tampering, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch segment of around 200 hair strands (roughly the size of a #2 pencil) near the scalp provides 100mg of hair, the ideal sample volume for screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional tests, and/or panels exceeding 10, 150mg of the sample is advised. We suggest using a jeweler’s scale for weighing the sample. If scalp hair is unavailable, an equivalent amount of body hair can be collected. By head hair, we mean scalp hair alone. Body hair includes all other types (such as facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The laboratory processing of a drug test result follows four main steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning involves the initial incorporation of a sample into a lab's system. This step includes confirming that the sample was sealed and sent correctly, allocating a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any extra data entry not available via an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening involves a preliminary, rapid examination for drugs of abuse. While Screening is an affordable means to eliminate drug use in most cases, a positive result requires confirmation to be accepted in legal situations. Any samples with a presumptive positive result in Screening need additional confirmation.
When a sample is presumptively positive during Screening, more hair is taken from the initial sample and set for Extraction. In this phase, drugs are extracted from hair at much lower concentrations compared to other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), which makes hair drug screening the most challenging methodology to execute.
Confirmation of any positive screening outcome is achieved via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All presumed positive samples are washed before confirmation as necessary. The entire lab process from Accessioning to Confirmation is vetted under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair criteria and the ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Despite being commonly termed "hair follicle tests", the test itself examines the hair strand and not the follicle beneath the scalp
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Cambridge City, IN
Extended Detection Window in Cambridge City, IN
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Cambridge City, IN
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Cambridge City, IN
Simple, Confidential Process in Cambridge City, IN
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Cambridge City, IN
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Cambridge City, IN
Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers in Cambridge City, IN