Hair drug screening tests hold appeal because their accuracy cannot be foiled

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Fl color promo a img, fl color promo img border noneimportant. Com i msnbc Components Art SITEWIDE newLogo half. Fl color promo padding top px. NEW YORK The federal government is planning to overhaul its employee drug testing program to include scrutiny of workers hair, saliva and sweat, a shift that could spur more to revise screening for millions of their own workers. The planned changes, long awaited by the testing industry, reflect government efforts to be more precise in its drug screening and to outmaneuver a small but growing subset of workers who try to cheat on urine based tests.

Some businesses have already adopted alternative testing, despite criticism by privacy advocates. But others have held back, partly awaiting government standards. That could be particularly valuable in situations like investigations of on the job accidents, to determine not just whether an employee uses drugs but if usage occurred recently enough to be a cause. A bid to raise deterrence level Alternative testing will really ramp up our ability to increase the deterrent value of our program, which is basically the whole bottom line, said Stephenson, director of the agency s Division of Workplace Programs. All federal workers are eligible to be tested.

The agency sets guidelines and administers the testing. SAMHSA, a division of the of Health and Human Services, tests fewer than, workers a year.

But because its standards are followed by regulatory agencies that conduct testing in industries they oversee, SAMHSA is responsible for about. Million of the million workplace drug tests done each year by U. The agency s testing standards are also widely followed by thousands of other employers, public and private.

He would not discuss details of the proposals before their release. Changes would not likely go into effect until early next year, after the agency solicits public comment, finalizes guidelines and prepares for the transition. Once that happens, many other employers could follow suit, government and industry officials say. Changes would not likely go into effect until, after the agency solicits public comment, finalizes guidelines and prepares for the transition. There s no doubt about it that SAMHSA s guidelines become the standard for the industry whether you re a regulated employer or not, and so what SAMHSA does will have wide ranging impact, said Kenneth Kunsman, a marketing executive with OraSure Technologies Inc.

Which makes a saliva testing kit. More employers are already using alternative testing. But many have held back because of the lack of standards, said Laura Shelton, executive director of the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association, which represents test manufacturers and labs. tests hold appeal because their accuracy cannot be foiled with products sold to mask drug residue in urine, say company and government officials, noting that the tests are extremely accurate. Privacy advocates concerned But privacy advocates express doubts, pointing to cases of police officers and others who allege false positives because their hair absorbed drugs around them, as well as research suggesting dark hair soaks up more drug byproducts than light hair.

There s a lot that would need to be done before these types of tests, in our minds, would be sufficient to be used for workplace testing, said Jeremy Gruber, legal director for the National Workrights Institute, an employee advocacy group. There s a lot that would need to be done before these types of tests, in our minds, would be sufficient to used for workplace testing. The screening industry has worked in recent years to promote alternative tests. It is also now used by employers including Kraft Foods Inc. Urine tests were fallible in a variety of ways, said Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Mirage, which adopted pre employment hair testing for all its, workers in.

We want our people to be sharp. The largest hair testing company, has about, corporate clients and last year did about, tests, vice president Bill Thistle said. Saliva testing has been marketed for workplace drug testing for only a few years. Companies including paper manufacturer Georgia Pacific Corp.

Kunsman said the labs affiliated with his firm this year expect to process, to, workplace drug tests a month. More tools at employers disposal Government officials and testing industry executives say the new tests are less a replacement for urine screening than additional tools in employers arsenal. Donna Bush, drug testing team leader at SAMHSA s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Saliva testing, done using a swab that looks much like a toothbrush but with a pad instead of bristles, is best at detecting drug use within the past one or two days. Hair testing, in which a sample about the thickness of a shoelace is clipped at the root from the back of the head, allows detection of many drugs used as far back as months. Sweat testing, in which workers are fitted with a patch that is worn for two weeks, is used to screen people who have returned to work after drug treatment. This material may not be published, , rewritten or redistributed. Chinese spying on the rise, U.

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