Tuesday, February 24, 2015

By Olivia Cross


There are many different situations in which checking for presence of drugs within a person is necessary. Drug tests are the technical analysis of biological specimens to determine presence or absence of parent drugs or their metabolites. This can be done using breath, hair, blood, urine, sweat or saliva samples. People living in the country of Australia might have interest in what is available in terms of drug testing Brisbane.

Sometimes testing is done to check for performance-enhancing steroids in athletes. An employer might choose to test potential or current employees for illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin and cannabis. Many times police officers will perform alcohol tests to determine the presence and concentration of this within an individual. BAC is the term used to describe the content amount and tests done to check this involve application of a breathalyzer. Urinalysis is typically assigned for workplace or sports testing purposes.

A lot of different drugs can be found through these methods. The time frame of detection will vary based on many things, including: metabolic rate, drug class, age, body mass, overall health, urine pH, amount taken, and frequency of use. The metabolites are expected to stay in the system longer than most parent drugs. For instance, cocaine and heroin can only be found through these results for a few hours after the use, but their metabolites can stay in the urine for days.

Oral fluid and saliva test results are similar to those done by blood, although there are some exceptions. Using breath air could also mimic the results of a blood test. In general, most hair tests have long detection windows, typically between 2 and 90 days.

Urine tests can be used to screen for parent drugs and metabolites. These determine if they are present within the system, not to what degree or length of time. This is the usual approach used by employers who wan to screen their employees. Often they are sent to a collection lab where a sample is taken. It is important that samples are guarded to make sure there is no tampering or other interruptions that could alter the accuracy of the results.

Hair analysis is more commonly used in the court systems. These are generally considered admissible evidence by legal and scientific parameters. A range of drugs can be tested through hair samples, including amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis and newer drugs like mephedrone.

Presumptive substance testing is done by utilizing substances, materials or surfaces where trace amounts of illegal substances might be found. This may be used instead of testing biological matter of a person, such as urine or hair. This involves mixing the suspicious material with a chemical and if the response is a color change, a drug has been detected. Many of these are sold over-the-counter and can be done without professional labs.

This form of testing is ideal because a person does not need to know it is being done. Only a small piece of material is necessary to do this. Tests are for screening purposes and only provide results that are generic. Still, they can determine if at least a dozen drugs are present. It is important to utilize professional labs and workers in order to get top accuracy with results.




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