Due to its longer detection window of up to 90 days, drug testing using hair yields 10 times the positivity rate of urine testing.
Hair Drug Testing Overview
Hair follicle drug testing or hair drug testing is an alternative to the standard urine drug testing. A hair follicle drug test is popular among employers, substance abuse professionals and courts as it offers a longer detection window than urine drug test. Typically a hair drug test provides up to 90 days of drug use history. This is one of the reasons why hair drug tests lead to a greater number of positives and are used by employers adopting a zero-tolerance drug testing policy.
It’s important to understand that the test doesn’t involve plucking hair from the scalp—so technically, it’s not a follicle test, but rather a standard hair drug test. Employers often use hair drug testing during pre-employment screening or random drug testing to monitor drug use, especially during rehabilitation. While the 5-panel hair drug test is the most common, 10-panel and 12-panel versions are also available to detect a wider range of substances.
Moreover, many major trucking companies—including JB Hunt, C.R. England, Schneider Trucking, Swift Transportation, and Shell Oil—actively choose hair drug testing for drivers, in addition to the required DOT urine test. Since safety-sensitive industries face serious liability risks when hiring individuals with substance abuse issues, they often prefer hair testing for its reliability and extended detection window.
Hair Drug Test Panels
5 Panel
5 Panel + Opiates
Expanded Panel
Benefits of Hair Drug Testing
Longer Detection Window
A hair follicle drug test will return twice the number of positives as compared to a standard urine drug test. Urine drug tests can detect drug use within 2-4 days of use for most drugs. Hair drug tests can detect a pattern of repetitive drug use for up to 90 days.
Tamper-Proof
Hair follicle drug tests are very difficult to cheat primarily because of the way samples are collected. During a hair collection, the collector will cut hair from the donor’s head. The hair is cut as close to the scalp as possible and, in most cases, the result is not visible to others. Many donors find a hair collection less awkward for the donor than urinating into a cup. It also eliminates the opportunity to cheat a drug test by using fake/synthetic urine, dilution or any other trick. Body hair may also be used.
Reliable Results
Because of the longer detection window, hair drug tests are ideal for random or pre-employment drug tests where you’d like to detect habitual drug use or addiction, whereas a urine drug test or oral fluid drug test is well-suited for reasonable suspicion or post-accident drug testing to detect current or very recent use of drugs.