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Friday, February 20, 2015

What To Know About Drug Testing Brisbane

By Olivia Cross


There are many different situations in which checking for presence of drugs within a person is necessary. Drug tests are the technical analysis of biological specimens to determine presence or absence of parent drugs or their metabolites. This can be done using breath, hair, blood, urine, sweat or saliva samples. People living in the country of Australia might have interest in what is available in terms of drug testing Brisbane.

Sometimes testing is done to check for performance-enhancing steroids in athletes. An employer might choose to test potential or current employees for illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin and cannabis. Many times police officers will perform alcohol tests to determine the presence and concentration of this within an individual. BAC is the term used to describe the content amount and tests done to check this involve application of a breathalyzer. Urinalysis is typically assigned for workplace or sports testing purposes.

A number of drugs are detectable through this process. There are detection windows that are based on numerous factors, including: drug class, frequency of usage, body mass, urine pH, metabolic rate, overall health, amount taken, and age. The period of detection for metabolites are generally longer than that of the drug itself. For instance, cocaine and heroin are only detectable through this for a few hours after the use, but metabolites can stay in the urine for days.

Saliva and oral fluid test results are like those one by blood, although there are some differences. Breath air can also produce similar results to blood tests. Generally, many of the hair tests will have the longest period of detection, with results showing for two to 90 days after the initial drug use.

Urine tests are done to screen for both metabolites and parent drugs. These determine if these things are present in the system, but not when they were taken or the amount. This is the typical approach used by employers screening employees. Usually they will be sent to a collection lab where the sample will be taken. This is guarded to ensure there is no tampering done or other disruptions caused by employee mistakes.

Hair analysis is more commonly used in the court systems. These are generally considered admissible evidence by legal and scientific parameters. A range of drugs can be tested through hair samples, including amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis and newer drugs like mephedrone.

Presumptive substance testing is done to identify suspicious substances, surface or material where traces of illegal substances are thought to be. This may be employed rather than testing the individuals through use of biological methods, including hair and urine testing. The test is carried out by mixing the suspicious material with a special chemical. If it triggers a color change, this indicates that a drug is present. Most of these are now sold over-the-counter and do not require labs to read the results.

This kind of presumptive testing is ideal because the person who is being tested does not need to know. In fact, only a small amount of material is needed to get results. The tests are for screening purposes only and offer generic results. Nonetheless, they can be used to detect a number of drugs. It is essential to employ professional labs and testers to get the most accurate results.




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