Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is recognized as a potent instrument for identifying substance and alcohol consumption. Hair captures a historical record of alcohol and drug usage by embedding biomarkers within the strands as they grow. When collected near the scalp, hair can show usage within an approximate 3-month span for alcohol and drug detection. Hair is straightforward to collect, relatively resistant to tampering, and easily transported.
An ideal hair sample consists of 1.5 inches of around 200 strands (resembling the thickness of a #2 pencil) taken from closest to the scalp, amounting to about 100mg. This sample is ideal for both preliminary and confirmatory testing. For EtG, additional testing, or panels exceeding 10, a 150mg sample is advisable. Samples should be measured with a jeweler’s scale for accuracy. If scalp hair is inaccessible, collect an equivalent amount of body hair. "Head hair" specifically refers to scalp hair, while "body hair" includes all other types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The drug testing lab process includes four main stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning is the first phase involving the processing of a specimen into the lab's system. This confirms that the specimen was properly sealed and shipped, assigns a random Laboratory Accessioning Number (LAN), and completes any missing data entry not covered by an electronic chain of custody.
Screening is an initial cost-effective method that quickly checks for drugs of abuse. Although it efficiently rules out drug use in most cases, a positive screen requires secondary Confirmation for court admissibility. All presumptive positive screenings must undergo secondary confirmation.
Should a specimen test presumptively positive in Screening, additional hair is extracted from the initial sample and prepped for Extraction. In Extraction, drugs are isolated from hair at concentrations much lower than in other methods (like urine or oral fluid), underscoring why hair drug testing is one of the most challenging methodologies.
Confirmation of any positive screen result is conducted using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All presumptive positive samples are washed before confirmation, as necessary. The entire laboratory procedure from Accessioning to Confirmation is scrutinized under both the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Hair specifications and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although sometimes called "hair follicle tests", this analysis inspects the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
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