Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing has gained recognition as a robust mechanism for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair captures a prolonged history of alcohol and other substances by embedding biomarkers within the fibers of the elongating hair strand. When extracted close to the scalp, hair can offer a detection time frame of up to roughly 90 days for alcohol and drugs. Hair is easy to collect, relatively tamper-proof, and simple to transport.
A 1.5-inch segment of roughly 200 hair strands (comparable to the girth of a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is the ideal quantity for analysis and verification. For EtG, supplementary tests, and/or assessments exceeding 10 panels, a quantity of 150mg is suggested. We advise measuring the sample with a jeweler’s balance. If scalp hair is not obtainable, an equivalent quantity of body hair may be sourced. When mentioning head hair, we refer specifically to scalp hair. Body hair encompasses other types of hair (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The critical phases in the laboratory examination of a drug test outcome are Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning involves the preliminary management of a sample into a lab's framework. This encompasses checking that the sample was securely sealed and sent appropriately, attributing a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and executing any additional data registration not covered by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening is an initial rapid assessment for drugs of abuse. While Screening is an economical approach to eliminate drug usage in most samples, a positive result requires confirmation for court admissibility. Presumptive positive samples in Screening necessitate further verification.
If a sample is deemed presumptively positive at the Screening stage, additional hair is taken from the original sample and set for Extraction. During this process, drugs are withdrawn from hair at a substantially lower concentration than other methodologies (e.g., urine or oral fluid), which makes hair drug screening a challenging technique to execute.
Confirmation of any positive Screening outcome is undertaken via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS. Presumptive positive samples are cleansed before confirmation as required. The full laboratory process from Accessioning to Confirmation is inspected under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and compliance with ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: While commonly called "hair follicle tests", the assessment itself evaluates the hair strand and not the follicle beneath the scalp
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Acworth, GA
Extended Detection Window in Acworth, GA
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Acworth, GA
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Acworth, GA
Simple, Confidential Process in Acworth, GA
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Acworth, GA
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Acworth, GA
Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers in Acworth, GA
