Skip to main content

What Happens During A Hair Follicle Drug Test?

 


During your Hair follicle drug test, the tester might collect some patch of hair and test for illegal drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs, and OTC drugs that you may have consumed for a long period, say 90 days.

Drug Testing has evolved to a completely different level. It has always been a standard 5-panel urine drug test for testing people who consumed illegal drugs. Employers have moved to saliva and hair samples to test for drugs, considering the possibilities of tampering and other cheating techniques in the urine samples. Organizations and employers who take drug testing seriously always prefer the Hair Follicle drug tests. This blog clearly explains hair follicle drug test, what happens during a this hair test, and how to pass your upcoming hair drug test.

What is a Hair Follicle Drug test?

Hair follicle drug test is a unique and accurate method of testing for illicit drugs and other prescription & OTC drugs that have been consumed for a long time. An employer may prefer a hair follicle drug test if the company needs to test for a specific drug or a group of drugs using a single patch of hair samples. A Hair follicle drug test can trace the drug usage for a maximum of 3 months before the last usage.

A hair drug test can detect the below drugs effectively:

Necessity of Hair follicle drug tests

Not all employers prefer hair follicle drug test. Employers who operate and manage high-risk jobs may prefer a hair drug test. You may also need to take a hair drug test for legal and medical purposes if the particular organization requires to do so.

A company or an employer might conduct a random or pre-employment hair drug test if they have a specific drug testing policy or during workplace accidents or injuries. This might differ based on the state drug testing laws in the United States. Some states do not prohibit the employer from conducting random hair follicle drug testing unless it discriminates against the employee or compromises his privacy. Some states prohibit random hair follicle drug testing, while some might not allow the employer to conduct hair follicle drug tests altogether.

A court or healthcare organization might conduct a hair drug test at certain times, but it requires the candidate’s consent to conduct the test. (Sometimes, not providing the consent might be considered a “Drug Test Positive”)

What happens during a Hair Test?

  1. A hair drug test can be conducted either at a drug-testing laboratory, workplace or at home.
  2. The tester will collect a small patch of the hair sample from your head during the drug test. The tester will prefer collecting samples from the crown of your head.
  3. If the tester cannot find any hair from the crown region or you are bald, he may prefer collecting hair from either the arm or chest, or leg region.
  4. Initially, a preliminary test would be conducted. That is the ELISA The tester may conduct a confirmatory test using the same hair sample if it comes out positive.
  5. The confirmatory test is the GC-MS (Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry) test. This will confirm the presence of the drugs tested for.
  6. There are slim chances that you may get false-positive results due to consuming some food items like poppy seeds, etc.
  7. A negative test result means that the particular sample is free from drug traces below the cut-off levels.
  8. A positive test result means that the hair sample has a considerable amount of target drug/drugs in the system.
  9. Sometimes, if the hair sample gets contaminated, the drug test results would be inconclusive. In that sense, the candidate should have to provide a new hair sample to test for drugs.

Cost of Hair follicle drug test

The cost of a Hair follicle drug test is expensive compared to the urine or saliva drug test. It is because of the technological exploitation to detect the drug usage before a long period, say 90 days or three months.

Also, considering the accuracy and efficiency of detecting illegal drugs, a hair follicle drug test is the best way to detect drug usage as it cannot be tampered with or misused.

How to pass your hair follicle drug test?

The only possible way to pass your hair follicle drug test is to avoid using drugs. You cannot possibly use any shortcuts or techniques as it gets stored in the melanin cells in the hair roots that might not get washed away even with the best shampoos. There is a growing interest among corporate employers, courts, and medical organizations to shift from the traditional 5-panel urine test to a hair follicle drug test. So, it is best to avoid taking drugs if you are looking for a job in any reputed or socially sensitive sector. All the best for your bright and drug-abuse-free future.

Originally published at https://cialisahc.com on June 14, 2022.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Drug Test Kits?

  A drug test kit is a device or substance used to detect the presence of drugs or other substances in a person’s body. There are several types of drug test kits available, including: Urine drug test kits : These kits are used to detect drugs in a person’s urine, and are commonly  used for pre-employment , random, and post-accident drug testing. Saliva drug test kits : These kits are used to detect drugs in a person’s saliva, and are becoming more common as they are easy to administer, non-invasive and can detect recent drug use. Hair drug test kits : These kits are used to detect drugs in a person’s hair, and can detect drug use over a longer period of time. Blood drug test kits : These kits are used to detect drugs in a person’s blood, and are considered the most accurate method of testing but are invasive and costly. Sweat drug test kits : These kits are used to detect drugs in a person’s sweat, and are less common but can detect recent drug use. Drug test kits can detect a...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Pass Fingernail Drug Test?

  The truth is fingernail or nail bed drug tests are extremely difficult to beat if you are a drug abuser. Nail bed drug test is similar to the hair drug test with a detection window of 3-6 months and unlike the hair, drugs can get trapped in the keratin fibers of the nail making it near impossible to beat compared to oral saliva or mouth swab drug test or even hair drug test that have a higher success rate.  Keep in mind : Unlike hair testing, nail testing can only tell you if a substance or Drug was used but not when it was used. Since nail bed drug test has similar detection window compared to hair drug, check if you pass a hair drug test through our hair drug testing kit. What is Fingernail Drug Test?  A nail bed drug test or a fingernail drug test is a method employed to screen the nails for the presence of drug(s) or its metabolites. Collection of nails for testing is easier and is done under direct supervision of the collector. The results are stab...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Pass A 5-Panel Drug Test?

  Passing a drug test has become a concern for many people as drug tests have become mandatory in many sectors during pre-employment and random drug screening . Employers need their employees to be drug-free to conduct their business operations smoothly without unnecessary issues and to improve productivity. Most organizations prefer conducting a standard 5-panel urine drug test. Some of them might also prefer a 5-panel saliva drug test or a 5-panel hair follicle drug test as per their company policy and guidelines. This blog will cover all three types of 5-panel drug tests and guide you on how to pass your 5-panel drug test. Let us start from the basics. What is a 5-panel drug test? The 5-panel drug screening is the most sought drug testing method preferred by the government and private agencies. You may face your 5-panel drug test on various occasions during pre-employment, random workplace drug testing, post-accident drug testing, suspicion-based testing, etc. Employers pr...
Post a Comment
Read more