Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing has emerged as an effective means for detecting drug and alcohol usage. Hair captures a longitudinal history of alcohol and other substances by embedding biomarkers in the fibers of the hair strand as it grows. If collected near the scalp, hair can offer up to about a 3-month detection timeframe for alcohol and other substances. Collecting hair is straightforward, difficult to tamper with, and easy to mail.
A 1.5-inch section of roughly 200 hair strands (approximately the size of a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp yields 100mg of hair, which is the optimal sample for screening and verification. For EtG, add-ons, and/or tests beyond 10 panels, 150mg of the sample is suggested. Using a jeweler’s scale to weigh the specimen is advisable. If scalp hair is absent, a similar amount of body hair could be used. When discussing head hair, it specifically refers to scalp hair only. Body hair pertains to all other hair varieties (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The four primary stages in laboratory processing of a drug test result are Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning includes the initial incorporation of a sample into a lab’s workflow. This encompasses confirming that the sample was properly sealed and shipped, assigning a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizing any additional data entry not captured by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening consists of an initial rapid assessment for drugs of abuse. Screening is a cost-efficient method to eliminate drug usage on most samples; however, a positive screen must be corroborated to be valid in legal settings. Any samples that are preliminarily positive in Screening necessitate a secondary verification.
If a sample is preliminarily positive in the Screening phase, more hair is extracted from the initial sample and prepped for Extraction. During this phase, drugs are removed from hair at a much lower concentration compared to other methods (ex. urine or oral fluid), making hair drug testing the most challenging method to execute.
Confirmation of any positive screening result is performed via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS. All preliminary positive samples are washed prior to confirmation as needed. The entire lab process from Accessioning to Confirmation is conducted under the guidance of both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair classification and the ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although often called "hair follicle tests", the test actually examines the hair strand rather than the hair follicle underneath the scalp
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Rodney, IA
Extended Detection Window in Rodney, IA
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Rodney, IA
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Rodney, IA
Simple, Confidential Process in Rodney, IA
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Rodney, IA
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Rodney, IA
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