How is a drug test on hair performed? What are the methods used?

Question by Redalert9r9r: How is a drug test on hair performed? What are the methods used?
Is there a specific type of machinery involved, what is the process for which it is analyzed, etc. Basic facts on how conclusions are made. For a school project.

Best answer:

Answer by Jason
Hair testing: Hair analysis:

Hair analysis to detect drugs of abuse have been used by UK and Canadian courts,
and hair testing for alcohol markers is now recognised in both the UK and US judicial
systems. There are guidelines for hair testing that have been published by the Society
of Hair Testing that specify the markers to be tested for and the cut off concentrations
that need to be tested. There are only a few UKAS ISO17025 accredited laboratories
in the UK including Tricho Tech based in Cardiff and Alpha Biolaboratories based in
Warrington, UK. Drugs of abuse that can be detected include Cannabis, Cocaine,
Amphetamines and drugs new to the UK such as Mephedrone.
The hair follicle test is growing in popularity because it is less invasive than a urine
screen, it is harder to falsify or tamper with the specimen, and the detection window
is extended to roughly three months. Hair for testing can be collected from anywhere
on the body, so the test can be utilized even when someone is bald or shaves their
head. Because body hair grows at a different rate than head hair, some people who
have made the correlation that drug use can be detected in body hair for up to 12
months.

Which Drugs Can Be Tested:
Cocaine, marijuana, opiates, methamphetamine and phencyclidine, or PCP, can
be detected through a hair drug test. Nicotine, methadone, simple benzodiazepines,
some antidepressants and mescaline have been detected in hair, too, but these
tests are still in the process of research and development. To rule out the possibility
of external contamination, such as by marijuana smoke, testing labs look for both
drug and its metabolites, or by-products, produced by the body.
According to Omega Laboratories, a standard hair test requires 60 or more milligrams
of hair, cut as close to the scalp as possible, or approximately 90 to 120 strands,
depending on the hair thickness. Each half-inch of head hair provides a 30-day history
of drug use. The standard is to test 1.5 inches of hair, or a period of approximately
90 days. If there is not enough head hair, body hair can also be used, but due to the
slower growth, the time-frame represented is approximately one year.

Laboratory Analysis:
After consuming drugs, the body processes them into drug metabolites, which
the bloodstream carries to the hair. They enter the hair follicle and move into the
hair strand where they remain embedded inside the hair shaft. Specialized
laboratories extract the drug metabolites from the hair sample and purify and
concentrate them. They test them by various chromatography methods — laboratory
techniques that separate and analyze specific components in a mixture, and also
by antibodies that can recognize specific drug molecules.

Confirmation:
Antibodies that test for the drugs can sometimes mistake prescription medications
for drugs, and thus cause a false positive screening result. To eliminate that
possibility, laboratories have to confirm all positive results for methamphetamine,
opiates, PCP, cocaine and marijuana. The method used is gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, or GC-MS, which combines two standard chemical techniques to
identify different substances within a test sample.

Advantages and Disadvantages:
When compared to the standard urine testing, hair drug tests can detect a
longer period of drug use. Many drugs, with the exception of marijuana, are
rapidly excreted from the body, making them undetectable in urine if the test
is done more than two to three days after use. Since the drug metabolites
reside inside the hair shaft, bleaches, shampoos and other chemicals cannot
alter the sample. Additional advantages include non-invasive collection procedures
and easy sample storage. The limitations of hair drug testing are hair length, high
cost and the inability to detect very recent drug use.

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