In Ulster, New York, Accredited Drug Testing offers comprehensive hair follicle drug screening. Our in-depth expertise in hair testing is available nationwide, with centers in every city able to conduct these tests. Typically, you need 1.5 to 2 inches of hair from the head or body. These assessments can detect drugs, alcohol/ETG, or can be customized further for specific needs.
Hair follicle drug testing has become increasingly popular in recent years for screening purposes. Various entities, including employers, courts, and Substance Abuse specialists, now prefer this method over the traditional urine test. This approach benefits those with zero-tolerance policies and individuals on probation due to its extended detection window of up to 90 days and its secure, observed process that limits cheating. However, for recent substance use within 5 days, urine tests remain more precise.
* You must register by phone or online to receive your donor pass/registration prior to proceeding to the testing center. You must bring a valid government issued ID along with the registration/barcode number which was sent to you by email.
When you're searching for hair drug testing near me or hair drug testing locations, we provide a simple and convenient process to find a drug and alcohol testing location near you that is certified to provide all of your drug and alcohol testing needs.
Hair testing is now regarded as a highly effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair can store a long-term record of alcohol and substance intake by encapsulating biomarkers within the fibers of the growing hair shaft. If collected near the scalp, hair offers an approximately 3-month detection timeframe for alcohol and other substances. Its collection is straightforward, it is relatively hard to tamper with, and it is easily transportable.
A 1.5-inch segment of roughly 200 hair strands (comparable to the thickness of a #2 pencil) adjacent to the scalp yields 100mg of hair, which is the optimal sample size for both screening and confirmation. For EtG add-ons and/or tests exceeding 10 panels, it is advisable to use 150mg of the sample. The specimen should ideally be weighed using a jeweler’s scale. In the absence of scalp hair, an equivalent quantity of body hair can be used. "Head hair" refers exclusively to scalp hair, while "body hair" encompasses all other types of hair (such as facial and axillary hair).
Process Overview
The laboratory procedure for processing a drug test result includes these four crucial stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning is the phase where a sample is initially integrated into a laboratory’s system. This step involves ensuring the sample was sealed and transported correctly, assigning a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any necessary data entry absent from an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening involves a preliminary assessment to identify drugs of abuse. While Screening is an efficient method to eliminate drug use for most samples cost-effectively, any positive screening must be verified for legal validity. Any samples that initially test positive in Screening necessitate further confirmation.
If a sample tests positive in the Screening stage, additional hair is extracted from the initial sample and processed for Extraction. In this phase, drugs are extracted from hair at lower concentrations compared to other methods (such as urine or oral fluids), making hair drug screening the most challenging method to conduct.
Any positive screening results undergo Confirmation using techniques like GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. Presumed positive samples are thoroughly washed before confirmation as necessary. The entire lab process from Accessioning through Confirmation is assessed following both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although often called "hair follicle tests", the actual test evaluates the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
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Extended Detection Window in Ulster, NY
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Simple, Confidential Process in Ulster, NY
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