Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is now recognized as an effective means for identifying alcohol and drug consumption. Hair retains biomarkers within the fibers of the growing strand, offering a prolonged history of substance use. When gathered near the scalp, hair can reveal a detection range of up to 3 months for substances. Hair collection is straightforward, hard to tamper with, and easy to transport.
A 1.5-inch portion comprising around 200 hair strands (similar to a #2 pencil's thickness) nearest the scalp yields 100mg of hair, perfect for examination and validation. For EtG, additional tests, and those exceeding 10 panels, 150mg is advised. It's suggested to measure the sample on a jeweler’s scale. If scalp hair is not available, an equivalent amount of body hair can be used. "Head hair" specifically refers to scalp hair. "Body hair" encompasses all other types (facial, axillary, etc.).
Process Overview
The drug test laboratory processing consists of four key stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning includes the initial sample processing within a lab’s system. This step verifies the proper sealing and shipping of the sample, assigns a unique LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and concludes any additional data input not covered by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening performs an initial scan for substance abuse. Although cost-effective for ruling out substance use in most samples, a positive screening necessitates confirmation for court admissibility. Any samples tentatively positive in Screening need secondary confirmation.
If Screening yields a tentative positive, more hair is extracted from the original sample for Extraction. At this stage, drugs are extracted from hair at significantly lower concentrations than with other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), making hair drug screening a highly challenging process.
Positive screening results are confirmed through GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS. All tentatively positive samples are washed prior to confirmation as necessary. The comprehensive lab process from Accessioning through Confirmation is reviewed under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair classification and accreditation with ISO / IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although often termed "hair follicle tests", the analysis pertains to the hair strand, not the follicle beneath the scalp
In Norwich, OH, hair follicle tests show superiority over urine tests.
The benefits of hair testing shine through in its unmatched detection accuracy and reliability.
The hair follicle testing undertaken in Norwich, OH, offers an extended detection window, up to 90 days.
Hair analysis in Norwich, OH, minimizes the chances of sample tampering.
Accredited Drug Testing offers convenient nationwide locations including Norwich, OH.
The process for hair follicle testing in Norwich, OH, is simple and confidential.
Provide Norwich, OH, with affordable pricing and fast turnaround on hair follicle tests.
Hair follicle drug testing in Norwich, OH, stands out for its precision and speed. The advanced accuracy of hair analysis in tracing substances overcomes traditional methods.
Employers in Norwich, OH, gain peace of mind with hair follicle testing.