hair_collection.jpgCompared to other drug test specimen types like urine and oral fluid, hair testing is often preferred for evaluating long-term patterns of drug use. Once the ingested drugs have had time to grow into the hair, and based on the length of hair normally tested, hair testing is able to detect a pattern of repetitive use for up to 90 days.

Due to its longer window of detection and observed collection protocol, hair testing often detects nearly twice the number of drug test positives as urine testing (7.4 vs. 4.3% in the 2013 data). As such, hair is ideal for a number of testing situations including pre-employment and random programs where evaluating long-term patterns of drug use can be an important consideration.

To learn more about recent trends in drug use, read the full Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™.

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