A Drug and Alcohol Screen is performed in Brisbane, Gladstone, Emerald and Mackay when a biological sample such as blood, urine, saliva or breath is collected and analysed for the presence or absence of drugs and alcohol or their metabolites.
Metabolites are the intermediates and products of metabolism. Metabolites are also tested along with their parent drug because metabolites have a Detection Window in urine of up to several days whereas some drugs have a Detection Window in urine that lasts only hours.
The presence of certain drugs and alcohol or their metabolites indicates that the substance detected has been consumed. If a Drug and Alcohol Test detects the presence of a drug or its metabolites, the biological sample that is collected is sent to a laboratory for further testing. This is called confirmation.
Confirmation testing for urine and saliva is performed using one of two techniques known as Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) or Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). GC-MS is widely regarded as the “gold standard” for forensic substance identification1 but recent advances in technology have seen a shift from GC-MS to LC-MS3 as the technique used for Confirmation testing. This is because LC-MS allows for a simpler work flow and requires less time to prepare and analyse the sample and deliver results.
Confirmation testing determines the actual level of a drug or its metabolites in the biological sample collected and indicates whether the consumption of the drug has been therapeutic or recreational.
For therapeutic consumption of a drug, a worker may still be considered safe to enter the workplace. However, for recreational consumption of a drug, a worker will not be considered safe to enter the workplace and will therefore, fail the recruitment process.
KINNECT can arrange Onsite Drug and Alcohol Testing in the following locations:
- Brisbane, QLD
- Perth, WA
- Mackay, QLD
- Townsville, QLD
- Gladstone, QLD
- Rockhampton, QLD
- Sunshine Coast, QLD
- Gold Coast, QLD
- Cairns, QLD
- Emerald, QLD
- Geraldton, WA
- Karratha, WA
- Newman, WA
- Port Headland, WA
- Mandurah, WA
- Albany, WA
- Broome, WA
- Moranbah, QLD
- Roma, QLD
- Mount Isa, QLD
- Maryborough, QLD
- Bundaberg, QLD
- Kingaroy, QLD
- Glenden, QLD
- Cannonvale, QLD
- Gympie, QLD
- Toowoomba, QLD
- Portland, WA
Call 1300 546 632
References
- Dams R, Murphy CM, Lambert WE, Huestis MA (2003). Urine drug testing for opioids, cocaine, and metabolites by direct injection liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 17:1665–1670.
- Grebe, S.K.J., & Singh, R.J. (2011). LC-MS/MS in the clinical laboratory – Where to from here? Clinical Biochemistry Review 32, 5 – 15.
- Agilent Technologies (2001). Basics of LC/MS. http://ccc.chem.pitt.edu/wipf/Agilent%20LC-MS%20primer.pdf
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