Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing is acknowledged as an effective method for detecting drug and alcohol consumption. It captures a long-term account of substance use by embedding biomarkers within the strands of growing hair. When collected from near the scalp, hair can reveal up to a roughly 3-month detection period for substances. Collecting hair is easy, tough to tamper with, and straightforward to transport.
A sample 1.5 inches in length, consisting of approximately 200 hair strands (roughly the size of a #2 pencil), yields 100mg of hair, which is the perfect sample size for screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional specifications, and/or tests exceeding 10 panels, a quantity of 150mg is advised. It is recommended to weigh the sample using a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair is not accessible, a similar volume of body hair can be collected. When mentioning head hair, we specifically mean scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The lab processing of a drug test result includes four primary stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning is the preliminary processing of a sample in a lab’s system. This process ensures the sample was sealed and shipped correctly, assigns a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finishes any additional data entry not managed by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening is a preliminary check for drug presence. While cost-effective for ruling out drug usage in most samples, a positive screen must be confirmed for it to be legally defensible. Any presumptively positive samples from Screening require further confirmation.
If a sample tests presumptively positive during Screening, more hair is extracted from the original specimen and prepared for Extraction. In this phase, drugs are extracted at a significantly lower concentration in hair than other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), making hair drug screening the most challenging methodology to execute.
Confirmation of any positive screening outcome is done via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All presumptive positives are washed before confirmation, as required. The laboratory process from Accessioning to Confirmation is evaluated under the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the accreditation to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: While commonly termed "hair follicle tests," the procedure analyzes the strand of hair, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
In Black Rock, NM, hair follicle testing offers several advantages over traditional urine tests.
Hair follicle testing in Black Rock, NM stands out due to its extensive detection window, which can reveal drug use for up to 90 days.
Hair follicle testing in Black Rock, NM reduces the risk of tampering with samples, ensuring credible results.
Accessing drug testing services in Black Rock, NM is straightforward with our numerous nationwide and local testing centers.
The process in Black Rock, NM for hair follicle tests is both simple and confidential.
Affordable pricing and fast turnaround times make our hair follicle testing services in Black Rock, NM an excellent value.
The precision and speed of hair follicle drug tests make them stand out in Black Rock, NM. These tests showcase a high degree of accuracy in identifying substance use.
Employers in Black Rock, NM can achieve compliance and peace of mind with hair follicle testing.