Hair Follicle Drug Testing - Pony, MT

What it is, How it works

Hair testing is widely recognized as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. It offers a comprehensive history of substance use by preserving biomarkers within the strands of growing hair. When collected near the scalp, hair samples can deliver a detection window of up to 3 months for alcohol and other drugs. The process of collecting hair is straightforward, challenging to tamper with, and convenient for shipping.

A sample of 1.5 inches, consisting of about 200 hair strands (approximately equivalent to a #2 pencil), closest to the scalp, yields 100mg of hair, the perfect amount for screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional tests, or panels exceeding 10, 150mg of the specimen is suggested. Using a jeweler’s scale for weighing the specimen is advised. In the absence of scalp hair, an equivalent quantity of body hair can be collected. References to head hair pertain exclusively to scalp hair, while body hair encompasses all other types such as facial and axillary hair.

Process Overview

The fundamental stages in the processing of a drug test result in a laboratory encompass Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.

Accessioning entails the initial integration of a sample into a laboratory’s system. This step verifies that the sample is sealed and shipped appropriately, assigns a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any additional data entry absent from an electronic chain of custody system.

Screening constitutes a preliminary assessment for drugs of abuse. Although it is a cost-efficient approach to dismiss drug usage in most samples, a positive screen must undergo confirmation to be deemed valid in legal settings. Samples yielding a presumptive positive result in Screening necessitate a secondary confirmation.

Upon a presumptive positive outcome in the Screening stage, additional hair is extracted from the initial specimen for the Extraction phase. During this phase, drugs are extracted from hair at markedly lower concentrations compared to other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), which makes hair drug screening the most challenging technique to execute.

Confirmation of any positive screening is executed using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All samples that are presumptively positive are washed before confirmation as required. The entire laboratory process, from Accessioning to Confirmation, is scrutinized under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and ISO / IEC 17025 standards accreditation.

Advantages of hair drug testing:

• Extended detection window: Hair drug tests can reveal drug use for up to 90 days, whereas urine tests have a briefer detection period.
• Hard to manipulate: Cheating a hair drug test is exceptionally difficult, enhancing the accuracy of results.
• Supplies historical insights: It provides a pattern of drug use over time, not merely recent activity.

Limitations:

• Inability to detect recent use: It takes approximately 5-7 days for drugs to manifest in hair.
• Expense: Hair drug tests are typically pricier than other methods of drug testing.
• Result variability: Factors like hair color and individual hair growth differences can influence drug metabolite concentration in the hair.

Note: Commonly known as "hair follicle tests," the test actually evaluates the hair strand instead of the hair follicle beneath the scalp.

Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing

In Pony, MT, hair follicle testing surpasses urine testing.
Its benefits lie in better detection accuracy and reliability.

Compared to urine tests, hair tests offer intricate insight.
They catch a broader range of substances over time.

Extended Detection Window

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