Hair drug testing has been going on for quite some time to test if criminals were under the influence during a crime, help parents gain custody of their children by proving their sobriety and to screen employees for highly skilled jobs. Now, athletes have been added to the list of people most often screened using hair drug testing.

Hair drug testing is pretty discreet. A small hair sample is taken from the base of a person’s head and it is taken to a laboratory where several tests will be performed to see if certain markers show up on the hair shaft. These special markers only appear if the person has been abusing drugs. Hair drug testing can even prove whether a person was drinking alcohol- up to 12 months ago.  One specific marker, called EtG, ethyl glucuronide is one of the most interesting parts of the hair test.  With EtG alcohol testing or EtG drug testing, the more alcohol or drugs a person consumes, the greater amount of EtG markers are revealed in the hair sample.

Hair Drug Testing Compared to Other Forms of Testing

EtG testing is unique compared to other tests because EtG testing shows a lengthy history of abuse instead of hours or at most- a couple days of use like urine alcohol testing would. EtG testing can prove up to 12 months of alcohol abuse- unlike urine alcohol testing, which can only show about a week’s worth of alcohol abuse- because alcohol is so quickly filtered throughout the body through urine, sweat and evaporation.

As more sports organizations discover hair drug and hair alcohol testing as an alternative to urine alcohol testing, they will find that it is more cost effective way to test for substance abuse. That is because no more than twice a year will it be necessary to test athletes due to the length of drugs and alcohol history that it provides.

The World is More Passionate than Ever about Fair Competition

With more reliable and accurate drug and hair alcohol testing technology, it is insulting to the other athletes who work so incredibly hard to win races, tournaments and gold medals without performance enhancing drugs- Times are changing and to let a cheater squeak through because sports organizations are still relying on the older technology testing doesn’t seem like fair play.