Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
The use of hair testing has gained recognition as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol usage. Hair provides a historical record of alcohol and drug intake by capturing biomarkers within the strands of growing hair. When obtained near the scalp, hair offers up to a roughly 3-month detection period for alcohol and drugs. Hair collection is straightforward, fairly resistant to tampering, and simple to transport.
A hair sample measuring 1.5 inches and consisting of roughly 200 strands (approximately the thickness of a #2 pencil) nearest the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is the optimal sample size for initial screening and verification. For tests such as EtG, additional ones, or tests exceeding 10 panels, a sample size of 150mg is advised. Using a jeweler’s scale is recommended for weighing the specimen. If scalp hair is not available, an equivalent amount of body hair can be gathered. When mentioning head hair, it refers specifically to scalp hair. Body hair includes all other hair types (such as facial or axillary hair).
Summary of the Procedure
The core steps in the lab processing of a drug test result include Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning involves the initial entry of a sample into a laboratory's system. This covers verifying that the sample is properly sealed and dispatched, assigning a unique LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizing any remaining data entry not covered by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening constitutes an initial rapid assessment for drug abuse. While Screening is an economical approach to rule out drug use in most samples, any positive result from the screen must be confirmed for legal admissibility. Samples that are presumptively positive through Screening necessitate additional confirmation.
Should a sample show presumptive positivity during Screening, more hair is taken from the primary specimen for the Extraction process. This step involves extracting drugs from hair at a much lower concentration than in other methods (like urine or oral fluid), which makes hair drug testing harder to perform.
Confirmation of any positive Screening result is carried out using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. Before final confirmation, all presumptive positive samples are cleaned as required. The entire lab procedure from Accessioning to Confirmation undergoes review within both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the accreditation according to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Benefits of hair drug testing:
Drawbacks:
Notice: Often labeled as "hair follicle tests", the analysis actually pertains to the hair strand and not the follicle beneath the scalp.
Why choose hair follicle testing over urine in Viper, KY?
Extended detection window is a key advantage in Viper, KY.
Tamper-resistant testing in Viper, KY ensures
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