Urinalysis, Hair & Nail Drug Testing
Urinalysis (UA), saliva, hair and nail drug testing are all offered because
each tests a different time period to detect drugs
in an individual’s system. Many companies and legal proceedings
require hair tests and/or nail tests in addition to UA to determine the extended
period of drug use. Our highly skilled staff has conducted thousands of tests.
All DATCS collectors are highly trained by State, DOT, and manufacturers’ guidelines
and procedures. Our collectors will travel when and where there is a need. The types of
tests are described below:
Urinalysis: For our non-DOT clients UA collections can be
screened in house with negative results in 20 minutes. DOT tests follow strict federal
rules and regulations with SMHSA highly trained labs conducting the tests. UA is the
most frequently and widely used test for drug use in practice today.
|
Hair & Nail Testing: Hair and nail testing offers the ability to stop more than
twice as many drug users at the door before they are employed. There is a growing
interest in replacing urine testing programs with routine hair tests to give an extended history of drug use. Since urine is more susceptible to adulteration, hydration
and switching, hair analysis provides a greater challenge to applicants who try to cheat.
Nail testing usually has a longer detection period than urine as well.
Nail tests share many of the advantages of hair testing. Hair
analysis provides a greater challenge to applicants who try to cheat for a number
of reasons:
- The donor cannot replace his or her hair or nails with those of another;
- The donor cannot adulterate hair or nails by placing anything in or on the sample while in the specimen collection area;
- The collector takes the hair directly from the donor and the sample is never out of the sight; and
- The donor cannot eat or drink anything that will dilute a hair sample.
Hair grows approximately ½ inch per month. If you cut the hair close to the
scalp and test the first 1-½ inch from the root end, you would be testing for a greater period. The problem with this is that it takes hair several days to
grow from the hair follicle through the scalp to a level above the scalp accessible to
scissors. Therefore, a hair analysis of a 1-½ inches covers a time span from several weeks to a few days after drug use. A nail test covers a longer time period.
|
