Hair Follicle Drug Testing - Plain Dealing, LA

What it is, How it works

Hair testing is recognized as an effective means to detect drug and alcohol consumption. Through capturing biomarkers in the hair strand fibers, hair delivers an extended history of substance use. If taken close to the scalp, hair can reveal drug and alcohol usage over about a 3-month span. Hair is straightforward to collect, relatively hard to tamper with, and simple to transport.

A 1.5-inch sample consisting of roughly 200 hair strands (comparable to a #2 pencil) near the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is optimal for both screening and confirmation. For comprehensive testing such as EtG or tests surpassing 10 panels, 150mg of the specimen is advised. We suggest utilizing a jeweler’s scale to weigh the specimen. If scalp hair is absent, an equivalent volume of body hair can be gathered. When mentioning head hair, it pertains solely to scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types of hair (facial, axillary, etc.).

Process Overview

The laboratory processing of a drug test result includes four major phases: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.

Accessioning is the initial step involving the integration of a sample into a laboratory’s system. This step verifies the proper sealing and shipment of the sample, allocates a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any further data input absent from an electronic chain of custody system.

Screening conducts an early rapid examination for substance abuse. While screening offers a cost-effective strategy to exclude drug use in the majority of samples, a positive result requires confirmation to be court-admissible. Any samples yielding presumptive positive results in Screening demand additional confirmation.

If a sample yields a presumptive positive in the Screening phase, more hair is extracted from the initial specimen and readied for Extraction. In this phase, hair undergoes drug extraction at a much lower concentration compared to alternate methods (such as urine or oral fluid), which renders hair drug screening among the most challenging techniques to execute.

Confirmation of any positive screening outcome is performed through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All samples with presumptive positive results undergo washing before confirmation as necessary. The complete laboratory process, from Accessioning to Confirmation, is examined under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the accreditation to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.

Benefits of using hair drug testing:

• Extended detection duration: Hair drug tests can reveal drug usage for a period of up to 90 days, whereas urine tests offer a shorter detection timeframe.
• Challenging to evade: Evading a hair drug test is notably challenging, leading to more precise outcomes.
• Insight into usage trends: It offers a usage pattern over time, rather than focusing solely on recent use.

Drawbacks:

• Lacks recent use detection: Drugs require around 5-7 days to become traceable in hair.
• Expense: Generally, hair drug testing incurs higher costs compared to alternative testing strategies.
• Result variability: Elements like hair color and personal differences in hair growth can influence the concentration of drug metabolites in the hair.

Note: Although often termed "hair follicle tests", the actual test examines the hair strand and not the follicle beneath the scalp

Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing

Why does hair follicle testing outshine urine testing in Plain Dealing, LA? Firstly, hair testing offers a much longer detection period, making it superior in tracing drug use history. Compared to traditional urine tests, hair testing provides a more reliable overview of substance use over time.

Extended Detection Window

Hair follicle testing in Plain Dealing, LA, presents a significant advantage with its extended detection window of up to 90 days. This allows employers to gain a comprehensive perspective on an individual's substance use history, providing valuable insights into long-term patterns.

Tamper-Resistant Testing Method

In Plain Dealing, LA, hair follicle tests prove to be tamper-resistant, drastically reducing the risk of sample adulteration. This ensures the results are reliable, offering a significant edge over other testing methods prone to tampering.

Convenient Nationwide Locations

With convenient nationwide locations, including in Plain Dealing, LA, our hair follicle testing services ensure quick and hassle-free testing access. This extensive network guarantees that testing is easily accessible, saving both time and effort.

Simple, Confidential Process

The hair follicle testing process in Plain Dealing, LA, is simple and confidential. Ease of ordering, taking, and receiving results ensures privacy for individuals while maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality.

Affordable, Fast Turnaround

In Plain Dealing, LA, we offer competitive pricing and fast turnaround times for hair follicle testing. This affordability, combined with swift results, provides excellent value for businesses of any size, ensuring both cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results

Hair follicle drug tests in Plain Dealing, LA, provide rapid, accurate results, emphasizing their high precision in detecting substances. Their meticulous testing process ensures that the results are reliable and trustworthy, offering peace of mind for all users.

Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers

Employers in Plain Dealing, LA, find peace of mind and compliance benefits with hair follicle testing. It ensures adherence to drug-free workplace policies and reduces legal risks while enhancing safety and maintaining a productive work environment.

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What's New In Hair Follicle Drug Testing according to the Hair Drug Testing Experts

With its multidisciplinary nature, hair testing brings together researchers, scientists, and experts from various domains to develop innovative techniques, explore new methodologies, and address emerging concerns, responding to the ever-evolving challenges of drug abuse, therapeutic drug monitoring, and environmental exposures to pollutants.

The joint meeting of the Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) and the Italian Group of Forensic Toxicologists (GTFI) was organized in Verona, June 8–10, 2022, and hosted by the Legal Medicine team of the Verona University Hospital, directed by Franco Tagliaro together with Federica Bortolotti and Rossella Gottardo.

It served as a prominent platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, facilitating groundbreaking advancements in hair testing and analysis. In this special issue of Drug Testing and Analysis, we aim to showcase the remarkable manuscripts presented at this significant event, shedding light on the latest research and highlighting the future directions in this field.

Novel Analytical Techniques: The Verona meeting witnessed the unveiling of cutting-edge analytical techniques, offering enhanced sensitivity, selectivity, and accuracy for drug testing. Remarkable advancements in sample preparation, detection, and identification of drug compounds have been presented. The manuscripts in this section presented novel approaches, such as multianalyte methods and on-line preparation which can enable rapid analysis and improve thorough forensic investigations.

Biomarkers and Pharmacokinetics: The identification and validation of reliable biomarkers and pharmacokinetic studies are fundamental aspects of drug testing and analysis. The impact of hair treatments on the oxidation/decomposition of drugs in hair was also explored, as the long-term fate of drugs incorporated in the keratin matrix. Furthermore, the SoHT meeting in Verona featured research on the identification and quantification of alcohol abuse biomarkers, their stability, and their correlation with exposure and other biomarkers.

Forensic Applications and Interpretation: One of the vital objectives of hair testing is its application in forensic investigations and legal proceedings. The SoHT meeting in Verona emphasized the significance of rigorous interpretation of analytical results and the need for standardized protocols. Manuscripts in this section present advancements in forensic toxicology, and have explored the challenges posed by emerging designer drugs and strategies to combat their proliferation. The pitfalls encountered when the exogenous/endogenous nature of a substance is questioned were presented and discussed. The special issue presents also manuscripts that delve into the ethical implications of drug testing in drug facilitated sexual assaults.

Clinical Applications of hair testing are witnessed by the insight on environmental tobacco smoke exposure, assessed by hair analysis in a population of students and the study of in utero-exposure to drugs of abuse through neonatal hair analysis. Exposure to drugs was also important in cases of child abuse/neglect, when the clinical purpose of hair testing merge with its forensic applications.

The legal framework surrounding hair testing and the achievement of guidelines to ensure fairness, accuracy, and confidentiality in drug testing practices have also been discussed,and the SoHT consensus on general hair testing and testing for drugs of abuse was presented at the meeting and published as a Letter to the Editor.

In conclusion, the special issue of Drug Testing and Analysis, featuring manuscripts from the SoHT–GTFI meeting in Verona 2022, reflects the remarkable advancements achieved in this field. The manuscripts provide valuable insights into novel analytical techniques, biomarkers, pharmacokinetics, forensic applications, and ethical considerations. As we embrace these advancements, we pave the way for a safer, healthier society, where drug testing and analysis serve as powerful tools in protecting public health and maintaining integrity in various sectors. The research presented in this special issue will undoubtedly shape the future of drug testing and analysis, fostering collaboration and inspiring further innovation in this crucial area of scientific inquiry.

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