Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair testing is recognized as a significant method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. Hair offers an extended history of alcohol and drug usage by capturing biomarkers within the fibers of the growing hair strand. When collected near the scalp, hair can provide a detection window of up to roughly 3 months for alcohol and other drugs. Hair is easy to gather, relatively hard to tamper with, and simple to ship.
A sample measuring 1.5 inches containing around 200 strands of hair (comparable to the dimensions of a #2 pencil) close to the scalp will yield 100mg of hair, which is the perfect sample for both screening and confirmation processes. For EtG, add-ons, and/or tests exceeding 10 panels, it's suggested to use 150mg of the hair specimen. We suggest weighing the specimen using a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair isn't available, a similar quantity of body hair can be collected. When we mention head hair, we are specifically talking about scalp hair. Body hair pertains to all other hair types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The primary four steps in laboratory handling of a drug test result are Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning consists of the initial processing of a sample into a laboratory's database. This involves checking that the sample was appropriately sealed and dispatched, assigning a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and performing any supplementary data entry not covered by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening entails a preliminary rapid test for drugs of abuse. Although Screening is a cost-efficient technique to eliminate drug usage in most samples, a positive screen must be confirmed for court admissibility. Any samples indicating presumptively positive in Screening necessitate additional confirmation.
If a sample is presumptively positive during Screening, more hair is extracted from the initial specimen and prepped for Extraction. During this stage, drugs are extracted from hair at a much lower concentration compared to other methodologies (such as urine or oral fluid), which explains why hair drug screening is the most challenging methodology to conduct.
Confirmation of any positive screening outcome is carried out via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All presumptively positive samples are cleansed prior to confirmation as necessary. The comprehensive laboratory procedure from Accessioning to Confirmation is scrutinized under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and the accreditation to ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Though often termed as "hair follicle tests", the analysis involves the hair strand and not the hair follicle beneath the scalp
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Livonia, MO
Extended Detection Window in Livonia, MO
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Livonia, MO
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Livonia, MO
Simple, Confidential Process in Livonia, MO
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Livonia, MO
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Livonia, MO
Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers in Livonia, MO