Hair drug testing vs Nail drug testing

Ashley Hodgkinson Sample Collections Manager at AlphaBiolabs discusses hair drug testing and nail drug testing together with the benefits of each test.

When a person consumes drugs they are broken down by the liver and a proportion of the parent drug and its metabolites are released into the bloodstream with a small amount being excreted by the body in a variety of ways.

Whereas urine and oral fluid (saliva) drug testing methods provide us with a ‘narrow-window’ of detection for drug use (from a few hours up to a few days) hair drug tests and nail drug tests offer what is known as a ‘wide-window’ of detection (up to 12 months).

This is due to the way in which drugs are retained in the hair and nails long after substances were first consumed.

Hair drug testing

Hair drug testing provides one of the most effective ways of determining an individual’s pattern of drug use over time and is routinely used in family law.

When a person consumes drugs a proportion of the parent drug and its metabolites finds its way to...

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