With New Methods for Testing Substance Abuse, is Urine Alcohol Testing a Method of the Past?

Besides the workplace, there are several other types of organizations that rely on substance abuse testing results. The latest trend is <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=http://www.trimegalabs.co.uk/resources/hair-alcohol-test.php>hair alcohol testing</a> and hair drug testing. Hair alcohol testing is also considered one of the least evasive substance tests around. Instead of <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=http://www.trimegalabs.co/resources/urine-alcohol-testing.php>urine alcohol testing</a>, breath or saliva testing that demands personal body fluids, hair alcohol testing only asks for a small sample of hair, taken discreetly from the base of the scalp. This is done by trained nurses that can collect a person’s hair sample inconspicuously in their home or place of work.

The need for hair alcohol testing to prove a history of alcohol abuse is just as necessary to disprove any abuse. Several places are looking into hair alcohol testing verses urine alcohol testing as their preferred method. Not only because it’s less invasive but because hair alcohol testing can show a 30-day history of abuse or lack of abuse, where a urine alcohol test can only show at the most, a week’s notice.

Other Scenarios Where Hair Alcohol Testing is Used
•    Hospitals looking to hire a surgeon or an airline hiring a pilot will likely be interested in knowing the alcohol abuse history of a surgeon or pilot before they’re hired.
•    Social workers or lawyers trying to prove the lack of alcohol abuse of a parent trying to gain custody of their child.
•    A rehabilitation service can use alcohol hair testing to watch the progress of a recovering patient
Once a small hair sample is taken from the base of the head, it is taken to a laboratory where several tests will be performed to see if certain markers show up on the hair shaft. These special markers only appear if the person has been drinking alcohol or abusing drugs.  One specific marker, called EtG, ethyl glucuronide is one of the most exciting parts of the hair test. The more alcohol or drugs a person consumes, the greater amount of EtG markers are present in the hair.

No Long-Term History of Alcohol Abuse Was Available Until Now
EtG alcohol testing is unique compared to other alcohol tests <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=http://www.trimegalabs.co.uk/resources/etg-alcohol-testing.php>EtG alcohol testing</a> this test shows a history of abuse instead of hours or at most- a couple days like urine alcohol testing would. EtG testing can prove up to 12 months of alcohol abuse- unlike urine alcohol testing, which can only show about a week’s worth of alcohol abuse- because alcohol is so quickly filtered throughout the body through urine, sweat and evaporation.

As more companies and other organizations discover hair alcohol testing as an alternative to urine alcohol testing, they will find that it is more cost effective way to test for substance abuse in that no more than twice a year will it be necessary to test employees due to the length of history that it provides.

Hair alcohol testing gives peace to employers who hire for certain high profile positions, or positions that demand mentally stable individuals like surgeons, airplane pilots and those in childcare. Next time you are in an interview for a job, you may not be handed a cup, but a seat in a barber chair.