Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
The perception of hair testing as a potent mechanism for identifying drug and alcohol consumption has grown. Hair captures biomarkers within its fibers as it grows, offering an extended history of substance use. By collecting hair near the scalp, one can achieve a detection period of roughly three months for alcohol and drugs. Hair collection is straightforward, not easily tampered with, and simple to transport.
Gathering a 1.5-inch segment of approximately 200 strands of hair (close to a #2 pencil in size) from the scalp yields 100mg of hair, considered the perfect sample size for both screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional analyses, and tests exceeding 10 panels, a 150mg specimen is advisable. It's best to weigh the specimen using a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair isn't accessible, a similar quantity of body hair can be used. "Head hair" specifically pertains to scalp hair, while "body hair" encompasses all other hair forms (like facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The procedure for processing a drug test result in the lab consists of four principal stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning involves the sample’s initial entry into the lab's system, ensuring it was sealed and dispatched correctly, issuing a unique LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any extra data entry absent in an electronic chain of custody setup.
Screening acts as a preliminary rapid test for substance abuse. Although Screening economically helps eliminate drug use across most samples, any positive findings must undergo confirmation for legal admissibility. Samples that test presumptively positive in Screening necessitate subsequent confirmation.
Should a sample test presumptively positive during Screening, more hair is taken from the original specimen for the Extraction stage. Here, drugs are extracted from hair at lower concentrations compared to other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), highlighting why hair drug testing is challenging.
Confirmation of any positive screening is done using GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. Presumptive positive samples undergo washing before confirmation as required. The complete lab process from Accessioning to Confirmation adheres to both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair standards and ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Referred to often as "hair follicle tests", the test evaluates the strand itself, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Tierra Bonita, TX.
Extended Detection Window in Tierra Bonita, TX.
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Tierra Bonita, TX.
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