Hair Follicle Drug Testing - Alpine, TX

Employment, DOT, Court Ordered, Personal

Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG

Accredited Drug Testing provides comprehensive hair follicle drug testing services in Alpine, Texas. If you're seeking a hair drug or alcohol test, Accredited Drug Testing is a specialist in hair testing, with facilities available nationwide, including every city. Typically, 1.5 to 2 inches of hair is required, though body hair might be used alternatively. Tests can examine drugs, alcohol/ETG, or be customized for other needs.

Increasingly, drug testing has incorporated hair follicle tests in recent years. Many workplaces, judicial systems, and substance abuse experts now demand hair testing over traditional urine tests. Hair analysis is preferred by employers with strict drug-free policies, courts, and probation officers, due to its extensive detection period of up to 90 days. This test is conducted with a supervised collection, making deception nearly impossible. However, for detecting recent usage within 5 days, urine tests remain most effective.

* 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.

(800) 221-4291

What it is, How it works

Hair testing is now regarded as a potent instrument for identifying drug and alcohol intake. By capturing biomarkers within the hair fiber, hair presents a long-term record of alcohol and drug use. When taken from near the scalp, it offers approximately a 3-month window for detecting alcohol and drug use. Hair collection is straightforward, relatively tamper-resistant, and convenient for transportation.

A 1.5-inch segment of around 200 hairs near the scalp (akin to a #2 pencil dimension) amounts to 100mg — the perfect quantity for screening and verification. For EtG applications, supplementary tests, and analyses over 10 panels, a 150mg sample is advisable. We suggest using a jeweler’s scale for specimen weighing. If head hair isn't available, an equivalent amount of body hair can be used. References to head hair pertain to scalp hair only, whereas body hair encompasses all other types (facial, axillary, etc.).

Process Overview

The procedure for lab processing of drug test outcomes involves four essential stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.

Accessioning entails the primary handling of a specimen into a lab’s database. It involves confirming the sample’s proper sealing and transport, allotting a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and filling any additional data not covered by an electronic chain of custody framework.

Screening is a preliminary, rapid evaluation for drugs of abuse. Although Screening is an economical approach to exclude drug use for most specimens, court-admissibility requires positive results to be validated. Specimens with presumptive positives in Screening necessitate a follow-up confirmation.

If a specimen shows a presumptive positive during Screening, additional hair from the initial sample is subjected to Extraction. At this phase, drugs are extracted from hair at significantly lower concentrations than in methods like urine or oral fluid, making hair drug testing one of the most challenging methodologies to execute.

Positive results from Screening undergo Confirmation using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS techniques. Necessary presumptive positive specimens receive a wash before Confirmation. The full laboratory process from Accessioning to Confirmation is subject to scrutiny under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair accreditation and ISO / IEC 17025 standards.

Advantages of hair drug testing:

Long detection window: Hair tests identify drug use for as long as 90 days, whereas urine tests are limited to shorter periods.
Difficulty to cheat: Cheating a hair drug test is notably tricky, enhancing result accuracy.
Provides historical data: It captures a timeline of drug usage, beyond just recent activities.

Limitations:

Cannot detect recent use: It generally takes 5-7 days for drugs to become evident in hair.
Cost: Hair drug tests commonly incur higher expenses than other testing methods.
Variations in results: Factors like hair color and growth differences can influence drug metabolite levels in hair.

Note: Although colloquially termed "hair follicle tests", the analysis targets the hair strand, not the follicle located beneath the scalp.

Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing

In Alpine, TX, hair follicle testing surpasses urine tests in various ways.

Accuracy: Detects a wider array of substances more reliably.
Detection period: Recognizes drug use over a longer timeframe.
Cheat-proof: Harder for individuals to tamper with results compared to urine tests.