It is at least a decade since scientists turned their imaginations to creating new compact, portable test instruments and self-contained test kits that could be used to analyze urine and saliva for alcohol, drugs, and their metabolites. Although the potential applications for such tests at the site of specimen collection, now called “on-site” or “point-of-care” testing, range far beyond hospital emergency rooms and law enforcement needs, it was catalyzed by the requirements of workplace drug testing and other drugs-of-abuse testing programs. These programs are now a minor national industry in the United States and in some western European countries, and cover populations as diverse as the military, incarcerated criminals, people suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, all athletes from college to professional ranks, and of course the general employed population, which is monitored for illegal drug use and numbers in the millions. It is not surprising, then, that the need for rapid and precise tests, conducted economically by trained professionals, has become a major goal. Current government approved and peer reviewed laboratory methods for urine analysis serve present needs very well and have become remarkably robust over the past twenty years, but the logistics of testing some moving populations, such as the military, the Coast Guard, workers on off-shore oil platforms, and athletes—perhaps the most mobile of these groups—are unacceptably cumbersome.

This comprehensive text provides clear explanations of the effects of drugs on human performance and the need for workplace drug testing. It provides essential information on the regulatory and legal frameworks around the world, how to set policies and coverage of all aspects of drug analysis and the associated interpretation of results.Contents include:* epidemiology of drug use in the working population* the evidence base and guidelines for workplace drug testing* legal, regulatory aspects and policies for drugs and alcohol* urine and alternative sample collection process* analytical techniques and specimen adulteration.Case studies of successful programmes are also included to illustrate the principles discussed.Written by internationally acknowledged experts this informative book will be essential reading for anyone interested in workplace drug testing or setting up such a system including clinical and forensic toxicologists, occupational health physicians, nurses, human resources, drug counselling and treatment providers, analytical chemists and lawyers.Alain Verstraete is Professor at the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium and Department Head of the Toxicology Laboratory of the Laboratory of Clinical Biology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.

Critical Issues in Alcohol and Drugs of Abuse Testing, Second Edition, addresses the general principles and technological advances for measuring drugs and alcohol, along with the pitfalls of drugs of abuse testing. Many designer drugs, for example, are not routinely tested in drugs of abuse panels and may go undetected in a drug test. This updated edition is a must-have for clinical pathologists, toxicologists, clinicians, and medical review officers and regulators, bridging the gap between technical and clinical information. Topics of note include the monitoring of pain management drugs, bath salts, spices (synthetic marijuana), designer drugs and date rape drugs, and more. - Serves as a ready resource of information for alcohol and drug testing - Ideal resource for making decisions related to the monitoring and interpretation of results - Includes concise content for clinical laboratory scientists, toxicologists and clinicians

Enables you to detect, identify, and characterize hundreds of drugs that may be used by athletes Mass spectrometry has become essential to sports drug testing. This book examines both the principles of sports drug testing and the use of mass spectrometry techniques and mass spectral data to detect, identify, and characterize hundreds of known and unknown drugs that athletes may use to enhance their performance. The author provides a detailed overview of the mass spectrometry of numerous classes of therapeutics and agents, various analyzers to detect low- and high-molecular weight drugs, as well as techniques to discriminate between endogenously produced and synthetically derived compounds. Mass Spectrometry in Sports Drug Testing begins with a full chapter dedicated to the history of sports drug testing. Next, the book provides the principles and techniques needed to maximize the specificity and sensitivity of mass spectrometric assays, including: Detailed, step-by-step assays with sample preparation Discussion of both chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric analysis Characterization of analytes in order to unequivocally identify banned substances Mass spectrometric behavior of low- and high-molecular weight analytes Throughout the book, descriptive examples illustrate the principles, advantages, and limitations of different assays. Mass Spectrometry in Sports Drug Testing not only sets forth the role mass spectrometry plays in detecting drug use among athletes, it also adds new insights into the health and ethical issues of doping in sports.

A comprehensive review of the science of drug testing in all its aspects, placing emphasis on technologies that use body fluids other than urine for determining the presence of drugs of abuse. The authors discuss the various body fluid specimens suitable for testing for illicit drugs-particularly saliva, sweat, and hair-describe the structural and manufacturing aspects of on-site testing devices based on lateral flow immunoassay, and detail the pitfalls of using these specimens. They also discuss in detail the problem of sample adulteration and its detection. Since oral fluid has the best potential of succeeding urine as the next matrix of choice for drug detection, four popular saliva testing devices are examined: Intercept®, the Drager Drug Test®, Oratect®, and Drugwipe. Political, social, and legal issues are also considered in articles on privacy, the use of drug testing in courts, and the problem of sample adulteration.

Written in a handbook style with specific methods and tips on eliminating false positive and false negative results, this book is a practical guide to the detailed mechanisms of such occurrences.