Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has emerged as a formidable method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. The hair captures long-term evidence of substance use by enclosing biomarkers within the strands as they grow. Gathered from near the scalp, hair allows for a detection period of roughly 90 days for both alcohol and drugs. It's straightforward to collect, hard to tamper with, and convenient to transport.
A 1.5-inch section containing around 200 hair strands (equivalent to the girth of a #2 pencil) closest to the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is the preferred sample for both initial screening and subsequent verification. For EtG, additional tests, and tests with more than 10 panels, a 150mg sample is advisable. It's best to measure the sample using a jeweler’s scale. In cases where scalp hair isn't available, a comparable amount of body hair can be used. When mentioning head hair, we specifically mean scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types of hair (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The laboratory processing of a drug test result involves four key phases: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
During Accessioning, a sample is initially processed within the lab's system. This phase ensures the sample was correctly sealed and transported, assigns it a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any supplementary data entry absent from an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening provides an initial, efficient way to check for abused substances. While Screening offers a cost-effective means to exclude drug usage for most samples, a subsequent confirmation is required for a positive result to be valid in legal settings. All samples that indicate a presumptive positive during Screening necessitate a further confirmation.
If Screening results suggest a positive, additional hair is extracted from the initial sample for the Extraction stage. During Extraction, substances are isolated from hair at much lower concentrations than methods like urine or oral fluid testing, making hair drug screening the most challenging to carry out.
Any positive results from Screening are verified through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS methods. Before confirmation, presumptive positive samples undergo washing as necessary. The entire lab process, from Accessioning to Confirmation, undergoes evaluation under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and according to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Commonly called "hair follicle tests", the evaluation targets the hair strand rather than the follicle beneath the scalp.
In Parsonsfield, ME, hair follicle testing offers advantages over traditional urine tests. With superior detection accuracy and reliability, it is the preferred choice in many cases.
Employers in Parsonsfield, ME, benefit from hair follicle testing's extended detection window. This method provides a comprehensive overview of an individual's substance history.
Hair follicle tests in Parsonsfield, ME, minimize the risk of sample tampering, delivering results that can't easily be altered.
Testing centers across Parsonsfield, ME, provide convenient access to services, offering hassle-free solutions for all needs.
In Parsonsfield, ME, the process for hair follicle testing is designed for simplicity and confidentiality, ensuring user privacy at every step.
Competitive pricing and rapid processing times in Parsonsfield, ME, enhance the value of hair follicle testing for businesses of all sizes.
The speed and precision of hair follicle drug tests are unmatched. In Parsonsfield, ME, these tests stand out for their high accuracy in identifying substance use, providing rapid results that are both fast and reliable.
For employers in Parsonsfield, ME, hair follicle testing ensures compliance with drug-free workplace policies, reducing liabilities and promoting safety.
