Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is increasingly recognized as a robust method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. It offers a historical overview, capturing biomarkers in the fibers of the developing hair strand. By obtaining hair near the scalp, one can identify alcohol and drugs over a period of up to 3 months. Hair collection is straightforward, hard to tamper with, and convenient to transport.
A 1.5-inch segment of roughly 200 hair strands (comparable to a #2 pencil) near the scalp yields 100mg, ideal for both screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional tests, or screenings beyond 10 panels, 150mg of hair is advisable. We suggest using a jeweler’s scale for weighing. If scalp hair is unavailable, an equivalent portion of body hair may be gathered. Reference to head hair implies only scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types, including facial and axillary.
Process Overview
The laboratory processing of a drug test result involves four primary steps: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
During Accessioning, a sample is initially processed into a laboratory’s system. This stage encompasses the verification of proper sealing and shipping of the sample, assigning a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any extra data entry absent from an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening performs a preliminary assessment for drug presence. Although cost-efficient and capable of ruling out drug use across most samples, positive screenings must be verified for court admissibility. Samples appearing presumptively positive in Screening mandate further confirmation.
Should a sample appear presumptively positive in Screening, additional hair is extracted from the initial sample for further analysis in Extraction. Here, drugs are retrieved from hair at concentrations much lower than those found in other methodologies (like urine or oral fluid), making hair drug screening the most challenging methodology.
Confirmation of positive screening results occurs through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. Presumptive positive samples undergo necessary washing prior to confirmation. The entire procedure, from Accessioning to Confirmation, is assessed under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and accreditation under ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Even though often termed as "hair follicle tests", the analysis focuses on the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp.
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