usa drug test » Drug And Alcohol Testing

Is Hair Alcohol Testing Safe?

UsaDrugTest — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 05:46:29 +0000

Hair alcohol testing is a relatively new form of drug and alcohol testing, but with all of the other forms of testing out there, how does it compare and is it safe?

How it Works

A small sample of hair is taken from the scalp; it is usually right underneath by the scalp and close to the hairline. Then it is put through a patented forensic process using a liquid gas chromatograph to look for fatty acid ethyl ethers, or FAEE and ethyl glucuronide, or EtG markers. These markers are only produced when alcohol is in the bloodstream. The more alcohol a person consumes the greater amount of FAEE and EtG markers are present in the hair. It is completely safe and sanitary. Just like getting a haircut, it is not like getting a massage by any means, but it is pain-free.

No hair color, bleaching or physical damage, (that wouldn’t be obvious) can conceal the truth of what your body has consumed. Only shaving one’s head is the only way one can truly remove the evidence. In fact, everything that you put into your body is revealed in your head hair. When something is ingested into your body, it breaks down and gets into your bloodstream which feeds your hair. Body hair doesn’t reveal as much because you’re blood is reaching out to all of your bodies hair and true amounts of substance abuse get diluted in the process. With scalp hair, however, true concentrations of drug or alcohol abuse are found.

The interesting thing about hair alcohol testing is the span of time that it can reveal. A urine sample can prove the evidence of alcohol only for a limited time. Alcohol evaporates quickly in breath as well. That is why a police man or woman can detect the current levels of blood alcohol in a person at the scene, but it is impossible to get an accurate account of abuse days or weeks later. With hair alcohol testing, evidence of a week prior can be detected! Did you drink two weeks ago? That can be revealed months later.

Least Intrusive Method For Testing

Unlike urine alcohol testing or saliva swabbing in one’s mouth, hair alcohol testing can be performed out in the open if need be and does not require any doctor’s office or time away from work, school or the like. A certified nurse/ practitioner can come right to the person’s home or office.

Employers are investing in this technology to make sure the person they hire is fit for a technical or mentally demanding job. When an employer can feel good about hiring a surgeon who has a clean record, for example, they are going to hire that person before anyone else who may not have a squeaky clean record.

If you are a lawyer or if you work in social services and would like to show that your client is not an alcoholic and is fit to have custody of their child, hair alcohol testing can prove or as equally important, disprove the history or lack of alcohol abuse.

When a person is going through treatment for help with alcohol abuse, alcohol hair testing can show the progress of their rehabilitation process.

More and more schools, employers and social and government workers are turning to hair alcohol testing for safe, reliable and un-intrusive method for drug and alcohol testing.

Is Alcohol and Drug Testing Really Worth the Cost for Your Business?

UsaDrugTest — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:34:57 +0000

You can’t put a price on your company’s name as a reputable provider of safe services. Don’t jeopardize your company or school’s credibility- assure your clients and rest assure yourself that you have responsible employees with clean records.

Crucial Positions Where People May Need Mandatory Alcohol and Drug Testing

•    Childcare

•    Pilots

•    Teachers

•    Machinists

•    Bus or Train Drivers

•    Captains

How Much is Your Employees Safety Worth or The People They Affect?

When it comes to safety, are all jobs alike? Would you mind if your landscaper were slightly inebriated more than the pilot of the plane you just boarded? When it comes to certain jobs, there are some jobs you may feel deserve alcohol and drug screening everyday. As an employer or business owner, you may be thinking, can I afford this? Can you afford not to?

Drug and Alcohol Testing is More Affordable Than You Think

Previously, hair testing was only able to test employees for drug use and now, with recent findings by Trimega Laboratories, a team of British and German scientists, they have found a way to prove whether a person had consumed drugs or alcohol recently or weeks ago. Findings indicate hair testing to be more accurate in determining a person’s alcohol and drug history over other methods.

Now that new developments in drug follicle hair testing have been proven to reveal long-term drug and alcohol abuse, the question remains- what is the price of piece of mind? With new advancements in hair alcohol testing, only an inch worth of scalp hair can prove up to 30 days of drug and alcohol abuse. One test providing both drugs and alcohol abuse results save you from having to perform more than one test!

Hair Alcohol and Drug Testing Described

When compared to the bodily fluid demands of previous testing, hair alcohol testing is fairly non-intrusive. The samples are taken by a professional nurse, who comes to your home or business and discreetly collects the hair sample close to the scalp.

It is then taken to the lab to be tested. A series of assessments called FAEE, fatty acid ethyl esters and EtG alcohol testing are done to measure the amount of FAEE and EtG markers that are revealed in the tests. The more alcohol a person has consumed, the more markers will be present on a test.

The rate that alcohol leaves the body in only hours and minutes makes it extremely difficult to judge how much a person has consumed and how long ago it was that the person consumed it. Hair alcohol testing and hair drug testing are also close to impossible to tamper with. Bleach, hair dye or other external contaminants will not affect the outcome of the test. Only shaving one’s head will affect the results of the test as there would not be any evidence which to test.

When thinking whether or not you should roll the dice on prescreening employees or performing random drug tests, think of it this way, would you bet everything you invested in your job on one person’s mess up drinking on the job, perhaps costing you time and money, but what if that person were to affect a life? A piece of mind is priceless.

Alcohol Testing Devices not Just for Police Officers

UsaDrugTest — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:52:34 +0000

I’ve worked at many places of business and to my surprise the only position that required me to conduct urine alcohol testing was my first internship at a local television station. From that position I moved around and worked at different companies and I was surprised how many businesses did not conduct this type of testing. So I did some research and it looks like alcohol testing is still around. Here’s a list of industries and places where an alcohol testing device is still in use.

Police Officers

Police officers use an alcohol testing device referred to as the Breathalyzer. The Breathalyzer is a device for estimating blood alcohol content from a breath sample. Officers that are assigned to a DUI unit are trained in both alcohol and drug impairment. Some of the officers are also certified as Drug Recognition Experts. Per MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving) in 2006, an estimated 15,827 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes—an average of one every 33 minutes. These deaths constitute 37 percent of the 42,532 total traffic fatalities. Of these, 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). Based on statistics like these the illegal alcohol concentration limit is .08 or greater.

Safety Sensitive Positions

Drug and alcohol testing devices are legally required in occupations described as “safety sensitive.” This requirement is due to the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991. The law is enforced by the federal Department of Transportation (DOT). These positions include aviation, motor carrier, railroad and transit duties. These occupations are considered safety sensitive because they are responsible for caring large amounts of passengers in airplane or motor vehicles.

Homeless Shelters

In New London, Connecticut a homeless shelter just started using an alcohol testing device to test the sobriety of people looking to stay the night. Anyone above the legal limit of .08 percent, which is Connecticut’s legal limit for drunken driving, is turned away when the doors close at 9:30 pm. The City Council was behind the decision to start using the alcohol testing device stating that the “dry” policy is used because they believe that providing beds to intoxicated people encourages heavy drinking among the city’s homeless.

Times have changed from my first urine test for my college internship, not only are business and safety sensitive positions testing for alcohol, now homeless shelters are testing. I wonder where else alcohol testing devices will show up in the future? Maybe parents will have to be tested when they pick up their kids from school, or maybe your urine and credit will be checked before you’re approved for a loan. All in all its safe to safe alcohol testing is not just for Police anymore.