0140 29466
info@alphabiolabs.ie
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Why choose AlphaBiolabs for oral fluid drug testing?
- Rapid results
- Most commonly-used drugs tested
- User-friendly reports accepted in every Family Court
- ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratory
- Our Price Promise – we will beat any like-for-like quote by a further 10%
- Expert advice and a dedicated Case Manager to fully manage your instruction
- Sample collections from any location within 24-48 hours of instruction
- FREE legally-instructed sample collections at our Walk‑in Centres
Oral fluid (saliva) drug testing explained
- 1 When a person consumes drugs, they are broken down by the liver, and a proportion of the drug and its metabolites are released into the bloodstream, while some of the drug is excreted from the body in a variety of ways, including through saliva.
- 2 The test works by analysing a sample of saliva (oral fluid) for the presence of drugs and their metabolites.
- 3 Oral fluid drug testing provides what is known as a ‘narrow-window’ detection period of up to 48 hours after drugs were consumed.
- 4 Oral fluid drug testing can be used effectively to complement hair or nail drug testing (both of which provide an insight into historic drug use) to give a much more detailed, accurate picture of an individual’s long-term and short-term drug use.
- Oral fluid drug testing is ideal for cases involving supervised parental access arrangements, emergency care orders, and interim care orders (where evidence of drug use is required), and for ongoing assessments as part of child protection interventions.
- It is also useful for Family Courts, where regular, repeat drug testing is required.
What drugs we test for
Our oral fluid testing is performed in-house at our accredited laboratory.
The main drugs we test for are:
- Amphetamine
- Benzodiazepines
- Buprenorphine
- Cannabis
- Cocaine
- Ecstasy (MDMA)
- Ketamine
- Methadone
- Methamphetamine
- Opiates (i.e. heroin)
- Tramadol
Sample collection
- When collecting a sample for point-of-care testing, our professional sample collectors prepare the oral fluid device. This is equipped with an absorbent sample pad that is rubbed around the inside of the sample donor’s mouth to collect saliva for testing.
- Once the sample has been collected, the sample collector will put the absorbent pad into the test cassette.
- For a negative result, a line will appear next to each of the substance classes shown on the device, indicating that no substances were detected in the sample.
- For a non-negative result, a line will fail to appear next to one or more of the substance classes shown on the device. This indicates that the corresponding substance was detected in the saliva sample.
- If the test returns a non-negative result, two further saliva samples will be taken by the sample collector and returned to our in-house toxicology lab for in-depth analysis, and confirmation of the test result.
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We also offer back-to-lab oral fluid drug testing. For this test, there is no instant screening. Instead, our sample collector will collect oral fluid samples at a convenient time/location for your client, or at one of our walk-in centres. The samples are then returned to our laboratory for testing.
