If Your Hair Could Talk

There’s a completely different world out there when it comes to drug testing. I recently had an experience where I needed to have a drug test as part of the hiring process for a part time job. Naïve as I am in this particular world, I thought that most everyone in the testing center was doing the same thing as I was doing, however, most of them were there for DUI testing, random drug tests as part of their probation, or court-ordered for a plethora of reasons.

From a public health standpoint, drug testing is important…and not just for alcohol abuse most commonly found in DUI incidents, but for various reasons of public and health safety. What was most interesting was learning from the testing site about the various kinds of drug tests that some people must endure. This includes the traditional urine analysis and blood tests, but also sweat tests, saliva tests and a rather new technique known as the hair follicle test.

Hair follicle testing is a hair screening that uses a small sample of hair strands to identify specific drugs that have been in the person’s body over 90 days. Who knew our hair could contain so much historical data on our personal habits?

The hair sample is cut close to the scalp, with at least 1.5 inches in length. Because they need multiple strands about the width of a pinky finger, several small strands are cut from various places on the head; thus, recipients do not come out with what might be considered a butchered haircut. Of interest, if the person’s head hair isn’t at least that long (such as in bald men), they can use chest hair or even pubic hair if necessary.

Drugs found through the follicles in your hair include cocaine, marijuana, opiates, methamphetamines, and phencyclidine. When there is suspicion for one of these drugs, the federal government actually mandates this type of test. Of interest, our hair can tell us an interesting story about our drug use. After a substance is ingested, metabolites are produced by the body as the drug circulates through the body. In essence, they enter and actually nourish the hair follicle, which then becomes part of the chemical make-up of your hair.

Every single hair on your body regenerates every 7 years, so it is impossible to go beyond that time frame for drug samples. The standard period of time used for hair follicle testing is 90 days because the likelihood of losing your hair from breakage or cutting is less likely.

The hair follicle test was discovered by accident in 1966-67 as a researcher was looking into tissue regeneration in rats. It was found that the properties of hair follicles contained significant information on cell properties. They are rather new, not even 50 years old yet.

The key in the public health world is that we are truly trying to keep you safe from harming yourself and others. Drugs and alcohol are elements that should not be part of your regular regime. Get caught and you may be subject to testing. It may be easy to trick someone with a urine test, but it’s much harder to tamper with your hair follicles.

 

Works used for t his article:

 

I Passed My Drug Test. (n.d.). Hair Follicle Drug Testing FAQ. Retrieved from http://www.ipassedmydrugtest.com/hair_drug_test_FAQ.asp.

Plikus, M. V. (2014). At the dawn of hair research – testing the limits of hair follicle regeneration. Experimental Dermatology, 23(5), 314-315.