Advanced Toxicology

Capital Health Performs both Screening and Confirmatory Services.

Initial drug screening using immunoassay. An immunoassay is a test that uses antibodies to detect the presence of a drug and other substances in urine. The initial screening process does not measure the specific amount of drug present in the sample. It provides either a positive or a negative result, indicating the presence or absence of a detectable drug.

Confirmations are performed (via) Liquid Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This is a chemistry technique used by Synergy Medical that combines the physical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography (or HPLC) with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry. LC-MS/MS is a powerful technique used for many applications which has very high sensitive and selectivity. Generally its application is oriented towards the general detection and potential identification of chemicals in the presence of other chemicals (in a complex mixture).

Each sample also goes through validity testing.

Validity Testing

Specimen validity testing is performed on a drug screen specimen to detect substitutions, adulteration or dilution.

Substitution

Submission of a specimen that is not characteristic of human urine. Typically, this may be water or water with salt in it and is identified by extreme creatinine and specific gravity results.

Adulteration

Adding a substance to a specimen after it has been collected. The product added is designed to mask the presence of, or chemically destroy, the drug or drug metabolite that the specimen may contain. An adulterant product may be added with the intention of adversely affecting the testing reagents.