Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is now recognized as a crucial method for identifying alcohol and drug consumption. Hair retains a long-term record of alcohol and other drugs by embedding biomarkers within the growing hair strands. When hair is gathered near the scalp, it offers an alcohol and drug detection window of up to about three months. Hair is easy to gather, challenging to tamper with, and straightforward to send.
A sample length of 1.5 inches consisting of roughly 200 hair strands (around the size of a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp delivers 100mg, which is the ideal amount for screening and confirmation. For EtG, extra tests, and/or examinations beyond 10 panels, a specimen of 150mg is advised. We suggest measuring the sample with a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair is not present, a comparable quantity of body hair can be taken. When mentioning head hair, it pertains exclusively to scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other hair types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The primary steps in the laboratory processing of a drug test outcome are Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning consists of the preliminary processing of a sample into a lab’s system. This process verifies whether the sample was sealed and sent correctly, assigns a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completes any extra data entry not supplied by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening involves a preliminary rapid assessment for drugs of abuse. Although Screening offers a cost-effective approach to rule out drug usage in most samples, positive screens need confirmation to be valid in court. Any samples that are presumptively positive in Screening require a secondary confirmation.
If a sample tests presumptively positive during Screening, additional hair is taken from the original specimen and prepared for Extraction. At this point, drugs are extracted from hair at concentrations much lower than in other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), making hair drug screening the most complex method to perform.
Confirmation of any positive screening results is done through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS. All presumptive positive samples undergo washing prior to confirmation as necessary. The entire lab process from Accessioning to Confirmation is reviewed in accordance with the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the accreditation to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Often called "hair follicle tests", these tests actually analyze the hair strand and not the follicle beneath the scalp.
In Hales Corners, WI, hair follicle testing stands out against traditional urine tests in several ways.
Hair follicle testing offers an extended detection window in Hales Corners, WI, crucial for evaluating substance use.
In Hales Corners, WI, hair follicle testing greatly minimizes sample tampering.
Convenient testing locations are abundant in Hales Corners, WI, with our wide network ensuring hassle-free services.
The process in Hales Corners, WI, is simple and confidential, making hair follicle testing stress-free.
With affordable pricing and swift turnaround in Hales Corners, WI, our testing services provide competitive advantages.
Fast, accurate results are crucial for drug testing. Hair follicle tests deliver both precision and speed, providing highly accurate substance use detection.
Employers in Hales Corners, WI, achieve compliance and peace of mind with hair follicle testing.