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Comparison Of Urine And Saliva Drug Tests

UsaDrugTest — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:50:11 +0000

The major difference between different types of drug tests is the collection of specimen. But the advantages and disadvantages of these distinct drug tests vary in terms of many issues like invasiveness in specimen collection, risk of tampering the specimen, cost of drug test, time taken to produce results, accuracy of the results, etc. Of all the drug tests, Urine and Saliva drug tests are very common because of their efficiency to provide accurate results.

Features of urine and saliva drug testing

Both the urine drug testing and the saliva drug testing have their own advantages as well as some disadvantages.

Collection of specimen:

The major advantage of saliva drug testing over urine drug testing is its least invasiveness of privacy while collecting specimen. This has been a controversy since a long time in all the places of drug testing. The process of collecting saliva for a drug test is obviously less invasive compared to the case of urine drug test.

Chances of adulteration:

The chances of adulteration in saliva drug test are very less, compared to urine drug test. In case of saliva drug test, it is feasible to collect the specimen under legible supervision. Thus, minimizing the chances of tampering the specimen. This is not possible in case of urine drug testing. However, saliva drug test is not completely free from adulteration.

Detection period of drug abuse:

The detection period of drug abuse through saliva drug test is shorter, compared to urine drug test. The detection period in case of saliva drug test is around 20 hours to 1 day approximately, whereas it is around 3 days in case of urine drug test.

Accuracy of results:

The accuracy rate of both, urine and saliva drug tests are deemed by the United States court system. However, the accuracy rate of urine drug test results is much higher than that of saliva drug test results, the risk of false negatives is high in both the drug tests.

Cost of drug test

Cost-effectiveness is the major advantage of urine drug tests compared to any type of drug tests. The cost of saliva drug test is a little higher, compared to urine drug test. However, the cost of saliva drug testing complies with the quality of the drug test.

As both saliva drug test and urine drug test, have their own advantages and disadvantages it is not feasible to use any one of them in all the situations. Based on the comparison of features mentioned above, it will be easier to analyze and choose a drug test according to the situation.

Comparison of Hair Drug Testing With Saliva Drug Testing

UsaDrugTest — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:02:24 +0000

An examination of specimen to detect specific drug presence or to determine prior drug abuse is known as drug test. Several methods have been developed to trace drug presence. Among those Hair and Saliva drug testing methods have emerged rapidly and accepted widely throughout the world.

Characteristics Of Hair Drug Testing And Saliva Drug Testing

Hair drug testing method is usually preferred in forensic studies due to its highly accurate results and many organizations use hair drug testing to find drug abuse for longer periods. Saliva drug testing is used in businesses, schools and in sports as results can be obtained immediately and due to its portability.

Hair drug testing and Saliva drug testing methods, both are donor friendly and difficult to adulterate. However, they have specific characteristics in respect of applications of usage.

• Easiness:

- The procedure followed to test drug presence using hair drug testing is easy. It is required to collect some hair samples and to send to a lab for testing.

- Saliva drug testing is easy to use and test can be conducted at the site of specimen collection.

• Duration For Drug Detection:

- Using Hair Drug Testing method, drug presence can be detected even after 90 days from the time of abuse. This test is widely accepted due to its effectiveness in results.

- Saliva drug testing is considered as an effective method to determine recent drug abuse and the duration of detection is 1-2 days from the time of abuse. Effectiveness of the results in saliva drug testing is based on the collection of the specimen.

• Adulteration:

- Adulteration of test samples in hair drug testing is highly impossible.

- In saliva drug testing, it is harder to adulterate but it is good to collect the specimen under the supervision for better results.

• Detects Major Drugs:

- Five major drugs abuse can be detected using hair drug testing using enzyme-immunoassay method.

- Seven major drugs can be detected using saliva drug testing, and using GC/MS method.

• Easy And Convenient:

- Hair drug testing technique is used at laboratories to detect drug presence from the test samples. Performing this test is easy, and convenient for those who know how to perform.

- Saliva drug testing is easy, and convenient to perform the test. This technique is more sensitive than any other drug testing method.

• Accuracy Of Results:

- Hair drug testing results are 100% accurate and these results are used as evidence for drug abuse.

- Accuracy of results in saliva drug testing is 95-98% and often performed in post accident situations.

• Skills Required For Conducting The Test:

- To perform a hair drug test, the person may need relevant knowledge to conduct the test. This test is usually conducted in highly equipped labs.

- Saliva drug testing can be performed by anyone, and at both home and lab.

This information gives characteristics of Hair drug testing and Saliva drug testing to understand the specific applications and to use both the testing methods effectively.

Detecting Cocaine Abuse with Drug Test Kits

UsaDrugTest — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:56:10 +0000

Cocaine is one of the most powerful addictive drugs of abuse. According to a recent survey from NIDA, around one in six Americans (15% in 2007), by the age of 30, have tried cocaine. Cocaine can directly affect brain and has serious impact on health of the abused. Detecting cocaine abuse with drug testing kits is easy, quick, and provides sensibly accurate results. Frequent screening helps to monitor people from cocaine abuse, effectively.

About Cocaine

Cocaine is extracted from the plant Erythroxylon coca. It is stimulant of the central nervous system and suppressant of appetite. Cocaine is a popular as recreational or club drug in many countries all over the world. Chewing, smoking, snorting, inhaling, and injecting are general methods of cocaine consumption. Cocaine consumption results in increased stamina, alertness, heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and euphoria in the abused.

Cocaine inside human system

The time taken for cocaine to enter into the human system depends upon the method of consumption. Cocaine takes 30 minutes to enter the blood stream of the abused when it is consumed orally. It is around 20 minutes in case of inhaling and 3.1 minutes in case of injecting. Cocaine melts effortlessly into the fat of the abused and thus stays for around 2 to 4 days inside a human system.

Cocaine drug testing kits

Cocaine can be detected for up to 3 days in urine drug testing. It can be detected for up to 90 days in hair drug testing. Cocaine drug testing kits provide quick results with reasonable accuracy.

Hazards of cocaine abuse

The regular usage of cocaine develops a tolerance to the drug, thus possessing high risks of developing into drug dependence or addiction. Inhalation of cocaine destroys nose membranes. Smoking of cocaine may damage the lungs. Consuming cocaine through injections possess high risks of acquiring transmittable diseases like HIV and Hepatitis. Chronic cocaine users have high risks of strokes, seizures, and heart attacks.

Cocaine drug tests help people to monitor their friends or family members and help to stay away from cocaine abuse. Even people, who have applied for a job where drug screening is a part of the interview process, use drug testing kits to check traces of previous cocaine dosage in their body.

Different Types of Alcohol Testing

UsaDrugTest — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:17:24 +0000

Alcohol tests are conducted to know whether the person has consumed alcohol or not. Alcohol testing is conducted in different ways using urine, blood, saliva and breathe specimens. Every test has its own importance and advantages of using it. Results of some alcohol testing can be used as evidence for legal considerations.

Types of alcohol testing

Basically there are four types of alcohol tests. They are Urine alcohol test, Blood alcohol test, Alcohol breathalyzer test and Saliva alcohol test. The following are the different types of alcohol testing.

• Urine Alcohol Test:

As the name goes urine alcohol test is conducted on urine specimen of the person for whom the test is conducted. This test indicates the presence of alcohol in a person’s body, but it takes up to 2 hours for alcohol to show up in person’s urine. Urine alcohol test is less expensive when compared to other alcohol tests. This test can also be conducted at home but for accurate results lab verification is required.

• Blood Alcohol Test:

Blood alcohol test is accurate and expensive when compared to other alcohol tests. Blood alcohol test is conducted on blood specimen and helps in identifying the actual content of alcohol present in blood. Blood tests are least used method in testing for alcohol because of their high cost.

• Alcohol Breathalyzer Test:

The common form of breath alcohol testing is breathalyzer test. Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is indirectly estimated by measuring the amount of alcohol in one’s breath. There may be inaccurate results due person’s breathing rate may change by vigorous exercise. If law enforcement personnel fail to use the breathalyzers properly or fail to maintain the device properly, then the results may not be accurate.

• Saliva Alcohol Test:

Presence of alcohol is tested through saliva specimen of the person for whom the test is conducted. This test is expensive than urine test and most commonly used test when compared to other tests. Samples are collected at the time of test and chance of tampering the sample is less. There are no nationally accepted cutoff levels for this test. Therefore, the results of saliva alcohol test are not accepted as evidence for any legal consideration.

To prevent road accidents, legislators are using these tests and making high efforts in controlling the accidents which are caused due to driving under the influence of alcohol. Testing for alcohol has become common for evaluation of employee. For avoiding accidents and evaluating employees, alcohol testing has become more important and is implemented more commonly than earlier.