The strengths and limitations of hair drug and alcohol testing

1. Detecting Parental Substance Misuse Drug and Alcohol Analysis for Child Protection and Custody Cases Graham Sievers August 2011 CGP7450 Ed.001

4. Comparison of Drug Use History Hair Urine Oral Fluids Blood 0-3 days 1- 4 days Up to 24hrs Up to 1 year + Days: 0.1 1 10 100 1000 Possibly longer depending on the drug Depending on the drug Depending on the length of hair

5. Incorporation of Drugs into Hair Epidermis Hair Follicle Sebaceous Gland Biological fluids Drug Notes: as a drug circulates the blood stream it is fed into the core of the hair

6. Incorporation of Drugs into Hair Epidermis Hair Follicle Sebaceous Gland Biological fluids Drug Notes: as the hair grows out of the body, for example through the scalp, so any drugs absorbed into the hair core will also grow out of the body

7. Incorporation of Drugs into Hair Epidermis Hair Follicle Sebaceous Gland Biological fluids Drug Notes: it takes about 7-10 days for hair to grow out of the scalp, and along with that the strand, in its core, traces of drugs taken a week ago or more

8. Incorporation of Drugs into Hair Regular Use Drug Notes: if someone takes drugs regularly then traces of the drugs will be in the core of the hair strand along the length of the hair Epidermis Hair Follicle Sebaceous Gland Biological fluids

18. Hair Drug Profiling