Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is recognized as a potent method for identifying substance use, including drugs and alcohol. The hair captures a long-term substance history by embedding biomarkers within the hair strand's growing fibers. When sourced near the scalp, hair can reveal up to about a three-month period of substance detection. It's easy to gather, resistant to tampering, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch collection of roughly 200 hair strands (equivalent to a #2 pencil's thickness) near the scalp yields 100mg of hair, optimal for both initial screening and detailed confirmation. For EtG, supplementary tests, or panels beyond 10, 150mg is advisable. A jeweler's scale is suggested for precise weighing. If scalp hair isn't accessible, an equivalent amount of body hair may be used. Head hair specifically refers to scalp hair, while body hair encompasses all other types (e.g., facial, armpit).
Process Overview
The laboratory processing of drug test results involves four primary phases: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning entails the preliminary processing of a sample into the lab's database. This step checks that the sample is properly sealed and sent, assigns a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any necessary data input absent from an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening is a swift initial check for substance abuse. While cost-effective, a Screening that tests positive requires verification to be valid in legal settings. Presumptive positives in Screening need additional confirmation.
If Screening suggests a positive, the sample undergoes further hair extraction for processing. Drugs are extracted from hair at much lower levels than with other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), challenging the complexity of hair drug testing.
Confirmation of any positive Screening outcome is executed via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All samples with presumptive positives are cleansed before confirmation as deemed necessary. The full laboratory process from Accessioning to Confirmation is evaluated under the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair classification and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although sometimes called "hair follicle tests," the analysis actually examines the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
Hair follicle testing provides distinct advantages over traditional urine testing in Tuscola, MS.
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