usa drug test » Drug And Alcohol

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.

Child Custody Cases Get Needed Support From Hair Alcohol Testing

UsaDrugTest — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:29:38 +0000

Hair drug testing has been around for more than 10 years but hair alcohol testing has just recently been unveiled as a significant piece of evidence for child custody cases. Previously, if a parent was accused of being an alcoholic or an abuser of alcohol, a urine alcohol test was given but the alcohol concentration was not always accurate and what’s more, is that the urinalysis test only showed up to a weeks worth of abuse- not providing the courts the evidence they needed say of six months minimum or a years worth of evidence being ideal. With the new alcohol testing device of hair alcohol testing, courts can now see a person’s range of alcohol use up to 12 months!

If the lawyer or case worker or courts request that the mother or father undergo Alcohol detection drug service testing, then a certified nurse will come to the parent’s home or office and collect a small sample of scalp hair and either physically take it to a lab or have it sent to a lab where the hair alcohol testing is done. The hair alcohol testing lab takes the hair sample through a series of tests that reveal when a person has consumed alcohol and approximately how much they consumed. A special EtG alcohol test can show alcohol use in segments of time which is unlike any other test in the world. EtG, ethyl glucuronide is a metabolite only produced when alcohol is in the bloodstream.

As hair grows it absorbs everything we ingest from chemicals to food and drugs and alcohol. Fatty Ethel Esters, FAEE are formed as part of the hair’s structure as a result of drug and alcohol consumption, which remain indefinitely. And the more alcohol that is consumed creates more EtG markers present in the hair shaft.

Hair alcohol testing disproves just as much as it proves whether someone is an abuser of alcohol. A child custody case worker could have an innocent parent take the hair alcohol test and prove that they haven’t been drinking for months and that they are a fit parent. Hair alcohol testing is accepted as certified evidence for court cases in America and the United Kingdom. Until now, there was not a way for people to be tested for alcohol for months of abuse or prove months of sobriety. This exciting new test was only recently developed by a team of British and German scientists and has changed the way alcohol screening for child custody cases are performed today.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Hair Alcohol Testing and Hair Drug Testing

UsaDrugTest — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:03:34 +0000

When you hire your employees, it’s best to do some back ground checks on them, whether it means calling references, looking closely at their resumes and previous lines of work, or asking them to undergo hair drug testing or EtG alcohol testing,.

What Employees Should Know About Alcohol and Drug Screening for Employment

•   Several acceptance letters are contingent on potential employees passing their drug and alcohol tests.

•   It may be an invasive procedure demanding blood, saliva, urine or hair samples.

•   The accurate hair drug tests and EtG alcohol tests used today can reveal up to 12 months of alcohol and drug use.

•   Because second-hand marijuana smoke and crack cocaine can be absorbed into your hair even if you are not doing the drugs, but just by hanging around with people who are doing them- it’s best not to hang around those people if you are looking for a job.

To Prevent Your Drug Test From False Positives

If you are not a drug user and you fail the drug screening, be as straightforward with the employer as possible, let them know that you are not a drug user and ask them if they would please do a confirmation test. The following is a list of over-the-counter medications which have been known to cause false positives in drug testing:

•   Ibuprofen

•   Midol

•   Nuprin

•   Sudafed

•   Vicks Nasal Spray

•   Ephedra and Ephedrine-based products (often used in diet products)

•   Detromethorphan

•   Vicks 44

Employers for doctors, pilots, drivers and other positions demanding 100 percent attention while ensuring the safety and responsibility for other people, want to make absolute certain of who they are investing in. Besides the safety of the public, employers are also concerned about their reputation want to avoid lawsuits.

Screening employees for drug abuse is nothing new. The need to screen employees for alcohol abuse has always been a concern but hardly been possible with previous methods because prior testing methods were inaccurate and therefore a waste of company money.

With hair drug testing and EtG alcohol testing, you can feel confident knowing you hired the right person for the job and the public can feel better knowing that highly certified and respected employees were accurately screened for the benefit of public safety.