Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis has emerged as a significant method for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. By embedding biomarkers in the fibers of the developing hair strand, hair offers an extended history of alcohol and drug intake. Hair collected near the scalp can supply up to a 3-month detection timeframe for alcohol and drugs. It is straightforward to gather, relatively hard to tamper with, and convenient to transport.
A 1.5-inch segment of approximately 200 hair strands (comparable to a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp yields 100mg of hair, which is the optimal sample size for both screening and confirmation purposes. For EtG, extended panels, and tests exceeding 10 panels, 150mg is advised. We suggest using a jeweler's scale for weighing the specimen. If scalp hair is unavailable, a comparable quantity of body hair can be obtained. 'Head hair' specifically denotes scalp hair, while 'body hair' encompasses all other hair types (e.g., facial, axillary).
Process Overview
There are four primary stages in the laboratory processing of a drug test result: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning starts with the initial entry of a sample into a lab's system, ensuring proper sample sealing and shipping, assigning a unique LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and finalizing any additional data entry absent from the electronic chain of custody system.
Screening consists of a preliminary inspection for illegal drug presence. While it's an economical method to dismiss drug use in most samples, a positive screening must be corroborated to be courtroom-acceptable. Presumptive positives from the Screening require secondary confirmation.
When a sample is deemed presumptively positive during Screening, more hair is extracted from the initial sample and prepped for Extraction. Drugs are extracted from hair at much lower concentrations than other methods (e.g., urine or oral fluid), making hair drug screening a particularly challenging procedure.
Verification of any positive screening is performed via GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, or LC/MS/MS techniques. Any presumptive positive samples are washed as necessary before confirmation. The entire lab process from Accessioning through Confirmation is assessed under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and adherence to ISO/IEC 17025 standards.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although commonly called "hair follicle tests," the procedure evaluates the hair strand rather than the hair follicle beneath the scalp.
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