Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has emerged as a significant method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. It offers a long-term record of substance use by capturing biomarkers in the growing hair fiber. Collected near the scalp, hair can reveal alcohol and drug presence up to a 90-day period. It's easy to collect, relatively hard to tamper with, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch section comprising roughly 200 hair strands (about the thickness of a #2 pencil) nearest the scalp provides 100mg of hair, which is optimal for both screening and confirmation purposes. For EtG or tests exceeding 10 panels, 150mg is the suggested amount. Using a jeweler’s scale to weigh the sample is prudent. In cases where scalp hair is absent, an equivalent mass of body hair can be gathered. References to head hair pertain strictly to scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types, like facial and axillary.
Process Overview
The drug test laboratory procedure principally consists of Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation phases.
Accessioning entails the initial incorporation of a sample into a lab's database, confirming the sample's proper sealing and shipment, assigning a LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and performing any further data entry omitted by an electronic chain of custody.
Screening executes a preliminary assessment for drugs of abuse. Although it's an affordable approach to dismiss drug use across most samples, a positive finding must be corroborated for legal acceptance. Samples exhibiting presumptive positivity during Screening require a confirming analysis.
Upon a presumptively positive Screening result, additional hair is extracted from the primary sample and subjected to Extraction. At this juncture, drugs are isolated from hair at significantly lower concentrations than alternate methods like urine or oral fluid analysis, rendering hair drug screening the most challenging to execute.
Positive Screening outcomes undergo Confirmation through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All such samples are washed as deemed necessary before confirmation. The complete laboratory sequence, from Accessioning to Confirmation, undergoes scrutiny under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although often termed as "hair follicle tests", the test evaluates the hair strand rather than the follicle beneath the scalp
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Berrysburg, PA
Extended Detection Window in Berrysburg, PA
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Berrysburg, PA
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Berrysburg, PA
Simple, Confidential Process in Berrysburg, PA
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Berrysburg, PA
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Berrysburg, PA
Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers in Berrysburg, PA