Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is recognized as an influential technique for identifying substance and alcohol use. Hair offers an extended timeline of alcohol and substance usage by capturing biomarkers within the hairs as they grow. When plucked close to the scalp, hair can indicate drug or alcohol use for about a 3-month period. Hair is straightforward to gather, moderately challenging to tamper with, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch snippet consisting of roughly 200 hair strands (nearly the thickness of a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp will obtain 100mg of hair, which is ideal for testing and verification. For EtG, additional tests, or panels exceeding 10, 150mg is advisable. We suggest measuring the hair on a jeweler’s scale. If head hair is inaccessible, an equivalent amount of body hair can be used. Head hair specifically refers to scalp hair, while body hair encompasses all other types (such as facial and axillary hair).
Process Overview
The procedure for laboratory processing of a drug test outcome comprises four major steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning includes the preliminary handling of a sample into a lab’s system. This consists of confirming the sample was appropriately sealed and shipped, assigning an arbitrary LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizing any additional information not included in an electronic chain of custody.
Screening involves a preliminary rapid check for substance abuse. Though a cost-efficient method to exclude drug use in most samples, a positive screen must be confirmed for legal admissibility. Samples testing positive during Screening warrant further confirmation.
Should a sample test positive during Screening, additional hair is extracted from the original sample for the Extraction phase. Here, substances are derived from hair at much-diluted concentrations than in other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluids), explaining why hair drug assessment represents a complex procedure.
Confirmation of any positive screen is executed via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. Every presumptive positive sample undergoes cleaning before necessary confirmation. The complete laboratory workflow from Accessioning to Confirmation is evaluated under the guidance of the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Commonly termed "hair follicle tests", the analysis examines the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
In Forest Hills, KY, hair follicle testing emerges as superior compared to traditional urine tests. Benefits of using hair samples include:
Hair follicle tests in Forest Hills, KY offer an extended drug use detection window, capable of revealing substance application for up to 90 days.
In Forest Hills, KY, hair follicle tests stand out for their tamper-resistant nature, reducing the risk of sample adulteration.
Forest Hills, KY benefits from the convenience of nationwide hair testing centers, simplifying access to testing services.
In Forest Hills, KY, the hair follicle testing process is simple and confidential.
For those in Forest Hills, KY, our hair follicle testing offers competitive pricing and fast turnaround times.
In Forest Hills, KY, hair follicle drug testing offers incredibly fast and reliable results. Precision in detecting substance use through this method surpasses traditional techniques.
For employers in Forest Hills, KY, hair follicle testing ensures policy compliance and peace of mind.
