Why Hair Alcohol Testing is a Preferred Method of Testing for Alcohol Abuse

There are several methods of testing people for alcohol abuse but not all methods provide the same results. For example, Urine alcohol testing and breath or saliva testing only prove immediate estimates of recent alcohol consumption of a person but they are all unable to test for long term abuse.

Why Does Testing For Long Term Abuse Matter?

Long term alcohol testing is important for employers screening applicants for a mentally demanding job, testing students for underage abuse, testing recovering addicts and as a tool for courts to decipher if a person was under the influence during a crime even if was committed two months ago. Any company employing mentally aware positions whether it be trucking, maritime or even politics could go bankrupt due to a lawsuit of one employee’s mistake under the influence. At the very minimum, an accident can harm the safety and reputation of any organization. These are just a few of the multiple reasons long term alcohol abuse testing is necessary. The necessary testing also needs to be accurate and reliable.

How Alcohol Hair Testing Works

If a person has been asked to give a hair sample, a certified nurse will make an appointment to come to the person’s home or place of work or school if a clinic is not available. Then a small sample is taken from the base of the head and is then either shipped or delivered to the laboratory where several tests will be performed to see if certain markers show up on the hair shaft. These markers called ethyl glucuronide, (EtG) are metabolites found in hair testing only when a person has consumed alcohol.EtG alcohol testing is the special test that reveals a person’s alcohol use over a long period of time. This test shows a history of abuse instead of hours or at most- a couple days like urine alcohol testing would. Because EtG testing can prove up to 12 months of alcohol abuse, it makes this test invaluable to employers screening for certain high profile or mentally stable positions like surgeons, pilots and childcare.

Many times alcohol testing will be combined with other forms, such as questionnaires and references from family or previous jobs to get an overall assessment. The cost of hair alcohol testing may be slightly higher than a urine sample test but the results far outweigh the latter. Hair alcohol testing now helps employers prescreen potential employees and truly know their alcohol consumption history instead of a person’s history of last week.

Employers can feel confident knowing they hired the right person for the job and the public can feel better knowing that highly certified and respected employees were accurately screened for the benefit of public safety.