Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing is increasingly recognized as an effective method for detecting drug and alcohol consumption. It offers a prolonged history of substance use by embedding biomarkers within the structure of the burgeoning hair strand. When sourced near the scalp, hair can reveal up to nearly a 3-month timeframe of substance exposure. The collection process is straightforward, adulteration is relatively challenging, and the samples are easy to transport.
A hair sample about 1.5 inches in length, comprising around 200 strands (roughly equivalent to a #2 pencil's girth), will yield 100mg, the optimal quantity for both initial screening and subsequent confirmation. For EtG, supplementary tests, or assessments exceeding 10 panels, a specimen amounting to 150mg is advisable. It is best to measure the sample using a jeweler’s scale. Should scalp hair be inaccessible, a similar volume of body hair could be gathered. References to head hair strictly mean scalp hair. All other types of hair (facial, axillary, etc.) fall under body hair.
Process Overview
The laboratory procedure for analyzing drug test results encompasses four principal stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning marks the initial phase of integrating a sample into the laboratory’s processing system, which involves confirming the sample's proper sealing and shipment, generating a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any further data entry not managed by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening provides a preliminary analysis for substances of abuse. Although it offers a cost-efficient modus operandi to dismiss drug presence in most cases, any positive outcomes in Screening necessitate confirmation for legal admissibility. Presumptively positive samples in this stage require a subsequent confirmation.
In cases where the Screening phase yields a presumptive positive, an additional portion of hair is extracted from the original sample for the Extraction phase. Here, substances are isolated from hair at lower concentrations than in alternate methodologies (e.g., urine or oral fluid), highlighting why hair drug analysis is notably intricate.
Any positive result from Screening undergoes Confirmation through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS methods. All samples that are presumptively positive are cleansed before confirmation if necessary. The progression from Accessioning to Confirmation is supervised under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and accreditation to ISO / IEC 17025 protocols.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Commonly termed "hair follicle tests", these assessments actually examine the hair strand and do not pertain to the follicle beneath the scalp.
Hair follicle testing offers a significant edge over urine tests in Highland Park, MI.
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