oral fluid drug testing
ABOUT ORAL FLUID DRUG TESTING N3
Fact #1 – The use of oral fluid testing is growing each year.1
Oral fluid drug testing in the workplace is relatively new compared to laboratory-based urine testing. But in a fairly short period of time it has become the testing method of choice for many companies. While it will not meet the needs of every employer, because of its unique advantages it will appeal to many companies whose workplace circumstances make the collection of a urine sample impractical and/or very expensive. Oral fluid testing will continue to grow in popularity in the United States as more employers learn about it and more drug testing companies promote it. Most of the major laboratories now offer both lab-based and instant result oral fluid testing, another indicator of its potential for growth. Oral fluid testing is a popular choice in the criminal justice market where cost and convenience are key deciding factors in choosing a drug testing method. Oral fluid testing is already as popular as urine testing, in some foreign markets. Australia, for example, only allows oral fluid to be used for random drug testing as it better determines recent drug use.
Just because marketing is effective doesn’t mean that the science is valid or that marketing has not skewed the data to support their product.
Fact #2 Oral fluid testing is equivalent to blood, the gold standard. 2
From a scientific perspective blood is considered the gold standard for testing, but its use is far too invasive as a workplace drug testing method. Oral fluid provides a “blood-equivalent” result because it measures similar molecules found in blood plasma. Oral fluid results correlate well with blood, whereas there is no relationship between urine drug test levels and those found in blood. When analyzing oral fluid or blood it is possible to test for the parent drug itself (active
Fact #1 – The use of oral fluid testing is growing each year.1
Oral fluid drug testing in the workplace is relatively new compared to laboratory-based urine testing. But in a fairly short period of time it has become the testing method of choice for many companies. While it will not meet the needs of every employer, because of its unique advantages it will appeal to many companies whose workplace circumstances make the collection of a urine sample impractical and/or very expensive. Oral fluid testing will continue to grow in popularity in the United States as more employers learn about it and more drug testing companies promote it. Most of the major laboratories now offer both lab-based and instant result oral fluid testing, another indicator of its potential for growth. Oral fluid testing is a popular choice in the criminal justice market where cost and convenience are key deciding factors in choosing a drug testing method. Oral fluid testing is already as popular as urine testing, in some foreign markets. Australia, for example, only allows oral fluid to be used for random drug testing as it better determines recent drug use.
Just because marketing is effective doesn’t mean that the science is valid or that marketing has not skewed the data to support their product.
Fact #2 Oral fluid testing is equivalent to blood, the gold standard. 2
From a scientific perspective blood is considered the gold standard for testing, but its use is far too invasive as a workplace drug testing method. Oral fluid provides a “blood-equivalent” result because it measures similar molecules found in blood plasma. Oral fluid results correlate well with blood, whereas there is no relationship between urine drug test levels and those found in blood. When analyzing oral fluid or blood it is possible to test for the parent drug itself (active