Enhancing Accuracy of Employment Drug Testing by Hair Follicle Test

By | February 15, 2011

Drug abuse at workplaces is a very serious concern for many companies. Pre-employment drug testing is conducted by many organizations to avoid problems arising due to workplace drug abuse. Urine, saliva, hair, and blood tests are conducted to detect the presence of drug in the employee’s body. However, due to sheer accuracy of hair follicle tests, many employers prefer to conduct them.

A small hair sample of just 1.5 inches in length is sufficient to conduct hair drug test. A drug after consumption gets metabolized and passes through bloodstream to entire body. Traces of drug metabolites get trapped in hair follicles. Hair drug tests detect the remained traces of drug metabolites. Hair sample can be taken from head, face, arms, and legs.

Detection time period for hair follicle tests is higher than urine and saliva drug tests. The tests can detect illicit drugs up to 90 days after consumption. However, high laboratory processing is required for getting accurate results. As the tests provide high accurate results, they are used for drug testing in the workplace.