Drug and Alcohol Testing Q&A - 2006

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Re: Hair testing - migration of metabolites?

From: Robert Swotinsky MD
Password: orange
Date: 17 Oct 2006
Time: 12:35:28 -0700
Remote Name: 65.206.105.12

Comments

I know little about leaching of metabolites out of hair over time. I suspect it's not a significant issue. More importantly, I suggest you consider the "90 day" window as a rough approximation. While it is true that older hair is less likely to test positive in someone who has recently stopped smoking, this is not an absolute. Some people have hair that grows slowly. Not all the hair grows at the same time - some hair is dormant, while other hair is growing. There is a likelihood that oil and sweat secretions carry metabolites to distal segments of hair. Bottom line: Treat workplace hair drug tests as "pass / fail," much as one would treat workplace urine drug tests.