Urine and hair drug test kits are used to detect the presence of drug metabolites in the respective samples. Urine drug test kits are available both in strips and cups. They became quite popular, since they are easy to use and cost effective. Hair drug test kits are more effective and accurate than urine kits and usually used for wider window of drug detection. These drug test kits are available in different panels ranging from 3-12, which are useful for detecting multiple drugs using single specimen. However, these two devices have their respective drawbacks or limitations which are as follows.
Urine Drug test- limitations:
- Risk of adulteration, dilution, and substitution.
- Specimen collection requires separate room and same gender personnel to observe the donor.
- Handling the sample is embarrassing for the testing personnel.
- Hazardous nature of the sample cause shipping troubles
- Need special care to dispose the sample as they contain human viruses and bacteria for long periods.
- Do not provide the length of the time since last use.
- Use of prescription drugs could result in false positives.
- Final confirmation through laboratory procedures is mandatory.
Hair Drug Testing:
- Compared to the other test, this is more expensive.
- Hair sample cannot be used to detect alcohol use.
- Test is limited to only five drugs.
- Recent drug use (1-7days) is not detected with this process.
- Length of the hair limits the results.
- Cannot be conducted at home.
These are the few limitations of urine and hair drug test kits, however when compared to the advantages, these drawbacks are often overlooked.