Hair testing analyses drugs within the hair shaft, rather than body fluids like urine or saliva, to determine whether drugs of abuse are present.
When compared to the analysis of body fluids, hair testing is more resistant to evasion through adulteration or substitution of samples or by simply abstaining from drug use for a few days. Ingested drugs accumulate permanently in hair in proportion to use, providing a permanent historical record that is impossible to adulterate.
A period of 3 months is typically reviewed. However up to 12 months worth of donor history can be tested.
A small sample of hair is taken from an undetectable location at the back of the donor’s head or from a location on their body and then sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Psychemedics’ patented method for detecting drugs in hair uses proprietary immunoassay and state-of-the-art GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS confirmation to permanently measure the drug molecules and metabolites entrapped in hair, which were incorporated following ingestion.
This technology offers significantly greater detection ability than other methods of analyzing hair or body fluids.
Psychemedics can test for a wide array of substances and metabolites including:
- Cocaine
- Benzoylecgonine
- Cocaethylene
- Norcocaine
- Opioids
- Codeine
- Morphine
- Heroine
- Hydrocodone
- Hydromorphone
- Oxycodone
- Oxymorphone
- Phencyclidine
- Amphetamines
- Methamphetamine
- MDMA
- MDEA
- Amphetamine
- Dexamphetamine
- Marijuana
- Benzodiazepines
- Diazepam
- Nordiazepam
- Oxazepam
- Temazepam
- Alprazolam
- Lorazepam
- Fentanyl
- Nicotine
- Synthetic Cannabinoids
- 5F-AB-PINACA
- AB-PINACA N-5-OH
- AB-PINACA
- AB-PINACA N-5-OH
- 5F-PB-22
- PB-22 N-5-OH
- XLR-11
- UR-144 N-5-OH
- AM-2201
- JWH-018 N-5-OH, AM2201 N-4-OH PB-22 PB-22 N-5- OH
- UR-144
- UR-144 N-5-OH
- JWH-073
- JWH-073 N-4-OH, JWH073 N-3-OH
- JWH-018
- JWH-018 N-5-OH