Drug Test Blog » metabolism

Drug Test Types

Detox Advisor — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:07:18 +0000

The drug test types reviewed in the following article focus on tests that deliver a quantitative result. Those are the tests that give an employer the most valuable information. The following article does not touch on tests that make use of thin layer chromatography. During that test, the tested substance moves over a solid. The distance of that movement is then compared to the distance moved by a standard. Thin chromatography allows the employer to learn whether or not some drug is in an employee’s system, but it does not reveal exactly how much of that drug is in his or her system.

Drug testing requires the possession of a testable substance. That substance should come from a part of the body that is known to hold the drug of interest. A hair drug test can uncover evidence of drug use in the past, as well as recent drug use. Any drug metabolite in the blood will eventually travel to the head, where it has chance to remain in the hair shaft.

Yet a drug test does not always seek to uncover proof of drug use in the past. For that reason, the hair drug test is not the most favored of the various drug test types. Asked to choose one type of drug test, an employer usually selects the urine drug test. That is the least expensive type of drug test.

The savings that come from the decision to use a urine drug test reduce the ability of the employer to feel confident about the test results. The blood test is the most sensitive drug test. Unfortunately, it is also the most expensive type of drug test.

The hair drug test, the blood drug test and the urine drug test all demand a bit of pre-planning on the part of the employer. Those three tests need to take place at a scheduled time. The saliva drug test can be a spur-of-the-moment test. The can saliva offer proof that an employee has recently used alcohol, marijuana, meth or cocaine.

A drug test can be categorized according to the substance that is tested. A list of drug test types can also offer details on the methodology used in the testing process. An initial drug test is usually an immunoassay. The test kit has been designed to facilitate the binding of antibodies and a drug (or metabolites of that drug).

The cheapest type of immunoassay makes use of enzymes. It is called the enzyme multiplied technique. While simple and cheap, that type of test can not be counted on to deliver reliable results.

The military has the resources for performance of radioimmunoassay techniques. The reading from an immunoassay is taken by a machine that can detect radiation. A radioisotope competes with the drug, as a substance that can bind to a particular antibody. Fluorescence polarization forms the basis for the most frequently used of the immunoassay techniques. When a drug test includes use of fluorescence polarization, then selected antibodies display their affinity for a drug, or its metabolites.

If any of the above-mentioned drug test types yield a positive result, an employer normally calls for a confirmatory finding. The confirmatory test is done using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The gas chromatograph separates the components in the tested substance. The spectroscopy looks for tell-tale signs that a drug of interest (or its metabolite) is present in any of those separate components.

How Long Do Drugs Stay In The Body?

Detox Advisor — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:42:57 +0000

Drug Detection Times refer to the “window” of detection for drugs of abuse. If a person is tested too soon or too long after use, drugs may not show up in human urine. Often someone will ask us, How long to drugs stay in the body? This short guide will help to answer that question. For the purposes of clarity, this guide is a reference for the detection of drugs of abuse found in human urine.

How long do drugs stay in your system? The length of time that the presence of drugs of abuse in the body can be detected is an important factor in drug screening. The chart below outlines approximate duration times. When interpreting the duration for the presence of drugs of abuse in the body, you must take into consideration variables including the body’s metabolism, the subjects physical condition, overall body fluid balance, state of hydration and frequency of usage.

Drug Detection Times in urine are expressed below in terms of lower and upper boundaries. The amount of time that a drug/metabolite remains detectable in urine can vary, depending on the following factors:

Amount and Frequency of Use: Single, isolated, small doses are generally detectable at the lower boundary. Chronic and long-term use typically result in detection periods near or at the upper boundary.
Age: In general, human metabolism slows with age, resulting in longer drug detection periods.
Body Mass: In general, human metabolism slows with increased body mass, resulting in longer drug detection periods. In addition, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and PCP are known to accumulate in fatty lipid tissue. Chronic users, physically inactive users, and individuals with a high percentage of body fat in relation to total body mass are prone to longer drug detection periods for THC and PCP.
Metabolic Rate: Individuals with slower body metabolism are prone to longer drug detection periods.
Drug Tolerance: Users typically metabolize a drug faster once a tolerance to the drug is established.
Overall Health: In general, human metabolism slows during periods of deteriorating health, resulting in longer drug detection periods.
Urine pH: Urine pH can impact drug detection periods. Typically, highly acidic urine results in shorter drug detection periods.
Note: In a small percentage of cases, users may test positive longer than times shown – most notably in cases of long-term chronic abuse, in individuals with significant body mass and/or body fat, and in individuals with health related issues resulting in abnormally slow body metabolism…

Drug Detection Times in Urine

Alcohol 24 hours or less
Amphetamines 1 to 4 days
Barbiturates Short-acting: 1 to 3 days

Long-acting: 1 to 3 weeks

Benzodiazepines Short-term Therapeutic Use: 1 to 3 days

Long-term / Chronic Use: 1 to 3 weeks

Cocaine 1 to 5 days
LSD 1 to 2 days
Marijuana (THC) Casual Use: 1 to 7 days

Long-Term / Chronic Use: 1 to 4 weeks Note: THC, the primary active ingredient in marijuana, is stored by the body in fatty lipid tissue. From there, it is slowly released into the bloodstream for up to several weeks – depending on the amount and frequency of use and the user’s level of physical activity.

In chronic and physically inactive users, THC may accumulate in fatty tissues faster than it can be eliminated. This accumulation leads to longer detection periods for these individuals. Also, users with a high percentage of body fat in relation to total body mass are prone to longer drug detection periods for THC.

MDMA (Ecstasy) 1 to 4 days
Methadone 1 to 4 days
Methamphetamines 1 to 4 days
Opiates 1 to 5 days
PCP (Phencyclidine) Casual Use: 1 to 7 days

Long-Term / Chronic Use: 1 to 4 weeks Note: PCP is stored by the body in fatty lipid tissue. From there, it is slowly released into the bloodstream for up to several weeks – depending on the amount and frequency of use and the user’s level of physical activity. In chronic and physically inactive users, PCP may accumulate in fatty tissues faster than it can be eliminated. This accumulation leads to longer detection periods for these individuals. Also, users with a high percentage of body fat in relation to total body mass are prone to longer drug detection periods for PCP.

For complete information on Drug Testing, visit DrugTestingResource.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com expert – Steve Sandlin

Drug Detection Periods

Detox Advisor — Wed, 30 May 2007 23:52:14 +0000

The following chart gives approximate detection periods for each substance by test type. Data for urinalysis are reproduced from LabCorp’s . The ranges depend on amount and frequency of use, metabolic rate, body mass, age, overall health, and urine pH. For ease of use, the detection times of metabolites have been incorporated into each parent drug. For example, heroin and cocaine can only be detected for a few hours after use, but their metabolites can be detected for several days in urine. In this type of situation, we will report the detection times of the metabolites.

Drug Detection Periods

Substance	Urine	Hair	Blood
Alcohol	3-5 days via Ethyl Gluconoride (EtG) metabolite or 10-12 hours via traditional method		12 hours
Amphetamines (except meth)	1 to 2 days	up to 90 days	12 hours
Barbiturates (except phenobarbital)	2 to 3 days	up to 90 days	1 to 2 days
Benzodiazepines	Therapeutic use: 3 days. Chronic use (over one year): 4 to 6 weeks	up to 90 days	6 to 48 hours
Cannabis	Single Use: 2 to 7 days Prolonged Use: 1 to 2 years	up to 90 days	2 days
Cocaine	2 to 4 days	up to 90 days	24 hours
Codeine	2 days	up to 90 days	12 hours
Cotinine	2 to 4 days	up to 90 days	2 to 4 days
Heroin	2 days	up to 90 days	6 hours
LSD	2 to 24 hours	Up to 3 days	0 to 3 hours
Methamphetamine	1 to 2 days	up to 90 days	24 hours
Morphine	2 days	up to 90 days	6 hours
Methadone	3 days	Up to 30 days	24 hours
PCP	14 days; up to 30 days in chronic users	up to 90 days	24 hours
Phenobarbital	7 to 14 days	up to 90 days	4 to 7 days

* Oral fluid or saliva testing results for the most part mimic that of blood. The only exception is THC. Oral fluid will likely detect THC from ingestion up to a maximum period of 18–24 hours.
* Urine can not detect current drug use. It takes approximately 6–8 hrs. post-consumption for drug to be metabolized and excreted in urine. Similarly, hair requires two weeks, and sweat, seven days.

Let’s Take a Saliva Drug Test

Detox Advisor — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:32:50 +0000

There are many things that are good in our society and there are many things that are bad in our society. Culture such as movies, theatre, dance, ballet, and sports such as baseball and ice skating are some good things in our society. In contrast, poverty, war, murder, hunger, and illegal drugs are some of the bad things in our society. However, in modern times there are various drug tests that can and are use in order to detect the presence of illegal drugs in a person’s body. One such drug test is the saliva drug test.

There are many good things in our society and there are many bad things in our society. We love the pure innocence of babies, young children, and puppies. In fact, we seem to view these three things are being pure as the first fallen snow of wintertime. This might sound funny but we even like the first fallen snow of the wintertime because we also view it as being pure as well. All human beings start out their lives as pure and unwritten upon. In other words, we began our lives as pure as vanilla ice cream and the first fallen snow of wintertime because we are all blank slate just waiting to be written on with life experiences. Some experiences will be good experiences and some will be bad experiences. Hopefully none of the bad experiences in our lives will revolve around the taking of illegal drugs. However, some people’s lives do encounter meeting up with illegal drugs. In fact, many professional and amateur athletes are subjected to random drug testing both before and after competing in their respective sports.

Moreover, most Olympic athletes are subjected to random drug tests every day that they are at the site of an Olympics. Plus, there are other substances that amateur athletes can’t have while they are competing. One such substance that amateur athletes, such as Olympic athletes, can’t have during competition are caffeine. Therefore, amateur athletes, such as Olympic athletes can’t have coffee, tea, or chocolate before competing. Caffeine can probably be detected in a person’s body by taking a sample of their urine, their hair, their saliva, or their sweat. The most popular and the quickest form of drug testing is the urine test. However, a saliva drug test can be used in order to detect illegal drugs in the body as well. Let’s take a closer look at a urine and saliva drug test.

A drug is commonly a technical examination of urine, blood, sweat, hair, or oral fluid samples such as saliva in order to detect the presence or the absence of specific drugs or their metabolized traces. A urine drug test simply requires a person to provide a sample of urine to a qualified professional for testing and either a test card is used right at the doctor’s office for immediate results or the urine sample is sent out to a laboratory in order to be tested for illegal drugs. In addition, a saliva drug test can generally detect use of illegal drugs during the last few days. Plus, a saliva drug test is becoming more widely used than other drug tests such as hair drug tests because they are convenient and the fact that they can’t easily be altered. Did you know that many jobs require that people get either a urine drug test or a saliva drug test before an offer of employment is made? Therefore, don’t be surprised if you have to take either a urine drug test or a saliva drug sometime in your life.