01 402 9466
info@alphabiolabs.ie
0 Items
We’re continuing our myth-busting series with the misconception that it’s difficult to perform a drug or alcohol test if the sample donor has little or no head hair.
It isn’t.
Whether a donor has a shaved head, short hair or no hair at all, other validated testing methods are available to ensure you can still get the evidence you need to support your case.
Why people believe this myth
Head hair testing is often the main test type discussed in family law cases, offering a wide window of detection (up to 12 months segmented or overview analysis) due to the length of time that drug metabolites and alcohol biomarkers remain in the hair.
Where the sample donor has very little or no head hair – due to shaving, alopecia, cultural or religious practices, styling choice or age – some family law professionals and social workers assume this makes court-approved drug and alcohol testing more of a challenge.
The facts
We can still perform a drug or alcohol test even if the sample donor has little or no head hair.
At AlphaBiolabs, we analyse head hair samples as short as 1cm, roughly one month’s growth – so a short, cropped hairstyle doesn’t automatically rule out a hair drug or hair alcohol test.
Where head hair isn’t available, alternative testing options include:
-
Body hair drug or alcohol testing
This can be collected from the leg, arm, chest, back or underarm, providing an overview of up to 12 months for drug or alcohol misuse.
Body hair is collected by weight, rather than the length of the hair strand so, unlike head hair, it cannot be segmented to provide a month-by-month insight.
Beard hair can also be used and, like head hair, is collected by length rather than weight.
-
Nail drug or alcohol testing
Where no hair is available, including body hair, nail clipping analysis offers a highly stable alternative sample.
It’s also useful where adulteration of hair samples is suspected (e.g. bleaching, dyeing, perming, straightening or excessive washing).
Like hair, nail drug and nail alcohol testing provides insight into substance use over a long period (wide window): up to approximately 6 months for fingernail clippings, and up to approximately 12 months for toenail clippings. This is because fingernails and toenails grow at different rates.
Body hair and nail tests can also be combined with other test types, including blood alcohol tests (PEth being the gold standard), and narrow-window tests such as oral fluid (up to 48-hour detection window) or urine drug tests (up to 4-day detection window), for a more in-depth picture of a person’s short- and long-term substance misuse.
We also offer breath alcohol testing for instant results, and the SCRAM® bracelet for continuous alcohol monitoring.
Related articles:
- Can body hair be used for drug testing?
- EtG Alcohol Testing – Nail vs Body Hair
- Hair Drug Testing vs Nail Drug Testing
What this means in practice
For a family law professional or social worker instructing drug or alcohol testing, the sample donor having little or no head hair should never be treated as a dead end.
If you require drug and alcohol testing for a family law matter, our expert team can advise on the best combination of test types to suit your case, depending on which sample types are available for collection.
Contact our New Enquiry team on 01 402 9466, email testing@alphabiolabs.com, or complete our online quote form.
Next up in our myth-busting series, we’re looking at whether hand sanitiser and household cleaners can really trigger a positive SCRAM CAM® result.
Read the previous instalment in this series: Myth #1 Hair strand testing works the same for drugs and alcohol
Legal Testing Services
Explore our comprehensive range of drug and alcohol testing services for legal matters.
