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Oral fluid and hair in workplace drug testing programs: new technology for immunoassays
Author(s) -
Moore Christine
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
drug testing and analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.065
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1942-7611
pISSN - 1942-7603
DOI - 10.1002/dta.140
Subject(s) - substance abuse detection , drug , saliva , drug detection , medicine , forensic engineering , computer science , engineering , pharmacology , chromatography , chemistry
Workplace drug testing programs have embraced both oral fluid and hair as testing matrices. Saliva is popular due to its easy, rapid collection; its non‐invasiveness compared to urine or blood; the convenience of collecting a specimen anywhere, anytime; and the difficulty of adulteration. The main advantage of saliva, however, remains its suitability for post‐accident or ‘for‐cause’ testing since the presence of a parent drug can assist in the determination of an individual being ‘under the influence’ of a drug. Hair, on the other hand, is useful for workplace programs, since its ability to provide historical information on drug intake ensures it is an excellent specimen for pre‐employment testing. Both technologies have enjoyed collection and laboratory improvements for immunoassay screening over the last few years, and these are discussed in this perspective. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.