Understanding Hair Follicle Drug Tests

Is your hair follicle drug test approaching? You would know how these tests work, whether you are using them for employment screening, legal proceedings, or some other situation. Quite a few people can relate to the challenge of hair follicle drug screen while they deal with employment screening, legal proceedings, or any other situations involving drug testing. Hair tests provide drug metabolites deposited in hair shafts for a much longer period than urine blood tests that look for recent substance use. On the other hand, this comprehensive testing method has become so popular among employers and legal authorities because it is harder to mend and has a wider detection window. In this article, we examine the science behind drug tests, respond to the most frequently asked questions to help prepare for such tests, and present basic facts about properly preparing for such tests.

Why Hair Tests Are Different?

Hair follicle tests are different from tests done on urine or blood, which will only pick up on recent use. This comprehensive testing method has been appealing to employers and legal authorities for one very good reason: it’s more difficult to manipulate. It has the wider detection window we were talking about. Finally, let’s see how these tests actually work, answer some questions, and eliminate the misconceptions about the preparation.

The Science Behind Hair Follicle Drug Testing

Once you take the drugs, their metabolites flow through your bloodstream. When hair grows, these metabolites get stuck in the development of the hair structure through the blood vessels that feed your follicles.

Here’s what happens during testing:

• The technicians will take about 100 to 120 strands of hair cut close to your scalp.
• About 1.5 inches of hair is the standard sample.
• Each of those little bumps will be somewhere around 90 days old since hair grows about half an inch a month.
• Hair contains about two months’ worth of potential substance information per inch of hair.

Is Environmental Exposure able to give a false Positive?

It is actually a serious concern. Even without the actual consumption, hair samples may get externally exposed to drug-contaminated environments.

One of the major studies by Cuypers et al., published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2016, confirmed that a hair analysis result could be affected by contamination from environmental drug dust, smoke, or powder. 

The good news? This issue is addressed by respectable testing laboratories that:

Specific washing techniques were employed to eliminate external contaminants before analysis, and particular metabolites were focused on that would only be from consumption, not from external contact.

Can these Tests detect the use of a Drug going back how far?

The longest detection window of any of the common testing methods is with hair follicle drug tests.

• The urine tests usually detect recent use.
• Ninety days is a standard window for hair tests.
• Longer hair samples can make this window nearly extend itself years.

Hair tests have an extended timeframe, which makes it difficult for those who have only recently quit using substances. Hence, while urine or blood tests can come back negative after a short period of abstinence, hair tests take much longer to produce clean samples.

What does a Hair Follicle Drug Test require Preparation?

For instance, despite as many products and procedures as you can imagine that say they can help you ‘beat’ a hair test, the scientific consensus is there’s no reliable method for removing metabolites that have become incorporated into your hair shaft without doing seemingly irreparable damage that laboratories can detect. The only scientifically validated method to clear a hair follicle drug test is through abstinence from drug use for 90+ days.

Others opt to shave the head before testing completely. However, keep in mind that some testing protocols will enable you to collect the body hair as an alternative sample. Interestingly, body hair also grows at a different rate than scalp hair, and it actually serves as another window for longer. It may be a more effective detection window in some cases.

This is what it means to understand to you.

This is because the hair follicle drug screens are such that these tests are difficult to manipulate. Once incorporated into your hair structure, drug metabolites become a relatively permanent record that the standard detoxification techniques can’t undo.

The best approach when you have a hair follicle drug test is to understand the window of time the detection occurs.

What factors may Impact your Test Result?

You should be abstinent and time, and that is the most reliable preparation. If you are an employer or an individual who wants additional details on the testing process, you can consult those who are into hair follicle testing. In particular, they can inform you of how long you can assume the system has been detecting, the method of testing your system, and factors that can change the results.

Conclusion

Suppose you are looking to hear about drug tests using hair follicles. In that case, you can trust the reliability of Face DNA Testing, which provides such services with false and proper interpretation of results. The test detector’s expertise is to provide detailed details on the detection windows, the testing method, and what components may influence their test result. If you are an employer or an individual looking to find information on how to perform the testing process, Knowledge is the best tool for success when you are preparing for any type of drug test. This helps you avoid making informed decisions about a situation as you understand how these tests work.