Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has gained recognition as an effective method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair offers an extended timeline of drug and alcohol usage by capturing biomarkers in the hair strand's fiber as it grows. When extracted near the scalp, hair can reveal approximately a 90-day detection period for drugs and alcohol. Hair is easy to gather, relatively tamper-resistant, and convenient to transport.
A 1.5-inch section of around 200 hair strands (similar to a #2 pencil's diameter) nearest to the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, considered the optimum sample for both screening and verification. For EtG, supplemental, and/or surpassing 10 panel tests, 150mg of the sample is advised. It's advisable to measure the sample using a jeweler’s scale. In the absence of scalp hair, an equivalent mass of body hair is acceptable. By "head hair," we mean scalp hair exclusively. "Body hair" covers all other hair categories (facial, axillary, etc.).
Laboratory Process Outline
The laboratory process for analyzing a drug test consists of four key steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning involves the preliminary entering of a sample into a laboratory database. This step verifies that the sample was appropriately sealed and dispatched, assigns a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any additional data entry that was not included in an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening provides an initial rapid analysis for drugs of abuse. Although Screening is an economical approach to dismiss drug usage in most samples, a positive screening result requires confirmation to be court-admissible. Any samples showing presumptive positivity in Screening necessitate a follow-up confirmation.
If the Screening phase indicates a presumptive positive, further hair is extracted from the initial sample and prepared for Extraction. During this phase, drugs are extracted from hair at a notably lower concentration than other approaches (e.g., urine or oral fluid), making hair drug testing the most technically challenging method to execute.
GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS carries out the Confirmation of any positive screening outcomes. All samples presumed positive undergo washing before confirmation if necessary. The entire laboratory procedure, from Accessioning through Confirmation, is scrutinized under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair specification and accredited to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug analysis:
Limitations:
Note: Though often termed “hair follicle tests,” the analysis focuses on the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Crystal Lakes, OH
Extended Detection Window in Crystal Lakes, OH
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Crystal Lakes, OH
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Crystal Lakes, OH
Simple, Confidential Process in Crystal Lakes, OH
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Crystal Lakes, OH
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Crystal Lakes, OH
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