It's crucial to understand that the sample must come straight from your head if you ever have to provide hair samples for a drug test. This is because alternative hair sources, such as a brush, cannot be used.
About 100–120 of your hair strands will be clipped out by the lab technician near the scalp. The hair that wasn't utilized is then thrown away.
Drug testing of the hair is significant for a variety of reasons. Compared to urine or saliva tests, it is a quicker and more accurate technique to identify drugs, and it may linger in your system for up to 90 days (longer than blood or urine).
A reasonable rule of thumb is that you need at least an inch and a half of hair for a reliable test result. Before submitting it for a test, be sure you comb it out.
Regarding the exam, there are many options available online, but only a handful provide a comprehensive service, and they all have a little price. To qualify for a test, they often need the client's signature. The most frequent applications include:
- Pre-employment and random drug testing.
- Establishing a person's suitability for participation in sports.
- The military.
- Police enforcement.
Due to their warm, wet atmosphere, hair brushes are known to harbour a variety of bacteria. Dead skin cells and residual product residues from numerous hair products may also assemble on the brush in addition to hair strands.
It's believed that brushes may also be contaminated by dust and natural oils, depending on your hair type. This may significantly impact the results of a drug test.
All hair samples are cleansed before confirmation testing to reduce the chance of external contamination impacting findings. However, this does not eliminate any drug residues from the sample.
The lab searches for both the parent drug and metabolite (bi-product) of the drug used to help rule out any external exposure. It is improbable that the presence of a drug metabolite was caused by external exposure.
It's critical to realize that the sample for hair drug testing must be taken straight from the subject's head. This needs enough strands at least one and a half inches long and a pencil diameter. Additionally, the sample must be taken in a method that prevents it from being harmed or polluted.
Drug testing is utilized in several contexts, including the workplace, law enforcement investigations, court proceedings, and the medical industry, to track patients' therapeutic prescription dosages. Depending on the substance being tested, the duration for detection may change since your body metabolizes (breaks down) various drugs at varying rates. For instance, stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine are often identified in the bloodstream or urine for approximately 2 or 3 days following usage. Still, opioids like heroin and oxycodone are detectable in a urine test within 1 to 3 days after the last time you used them.
In a biological sample, such as blood or urine, a drug test looks for certain drugs and their metabolites (chemicals that a substance may transform into). The detection duration varies depending on the substance since your body metabolizes (breaks down) various molecules at varying rates. A drug test may also detect occasional drug users or determine if you have a substance use problem.
Given that it is neither precise nor sufficiently fresh to provide an accurate result, hair from a brush is not a viable candidate for a hair drug test. The hair follicle drug test sample must be at least an inch and a half long and originate from your head. If the sample is less than an inch and a half long, it is not required to group the hair's root ends together. When submitting your hair, wrap any extra hair around the kit, including collecting foil.
