 Frequently
Asked Questions: AbuseCheck™ Hair Alcohol Test
(HAT)
How much alcohol constitutes alcohol abuse?
In Britain alcohol abuse correlates to the consumption of
at least 60 grams of alcohol per day. In the UK, alcohol is
based on units to allow drinkers to establish their  alcohol
consumption. One unit is 8 grams (10 ml) of pure alcohol.
However, the amount of drink that equates to 60 grams depends
on how strong the drink is. On average, one pub measure of
wine, one half pint of average strength beer, and one “shot”
of spirit are all one unit. So seven of these units provide
7 x 8 = 56 grams of alcohol. A 750 ml bottle of wine with
13% alcohol by volume would contain 9.75 units.
How do we measure abstinence?
We can say that a person is abstinent if
we have previous results to compare with and the most recent
results show a FAEE total concentration of 0.2ng/mg or less.
If someone has binged one night, will this show up?
How much will they have had to drink?
If the binge was not within our “blind spot”
of approximately 2 weeks when the hair is still “in
the body” and was heavy enough to reach the average
cut-off (approximately equivalent to 56 units per week), then
this would indeed show up as a positive result. However, it
is unlikely that a person could drink this much in one session
alone.
The sensitivity of the FAEE test allows for a detection threshold
of approximately 60 grams of alcohol consumed in week. The
result would fall into what is defined as the "non- to
moderate drinking" behavior category. For those that
drink over 160 grams in a week, they will most commonly fall
into the "Drinker" behavior category.
Can we tell if an excessive drinker really has stopped
drinking?
We can see after 1-2 months if an excessive alcohol drinker
has ceased drinking (i.e. if he/she is abstinent). In some
cases the fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) values sink below
cut off values after only one month of abstinence and at most
after two months. Following 3 months of abstinence the values
will increasingly liken to those of social drinkers and teetotalers.
Please note: for this test we also require, where possible,
6 cm of head hair (standard conditions).
Can we monitor a reformed alcoholic?
According to a 2004 study by Pragst et al, in cases where
a relapse follows a period of abstinence of more than one
year, binge drinking lasting several weeks is sufficient to
give a positive finding over the whole length of hair. We
also find that a relapse can be detected after two to four
weeks. Note: For this test we also require, where possible,
6 cm of head hair (standard conditions).
Is hair testing for alcohol an imprecise science?
Hair testing is not an imprecise science and is subjected
to the same rigors and decisions that apply to other branches
of testing such as blood alcohol levels in drivers, for example.
In many areas of medicine and science most testing is done
to establish a level and then that level is compared with
the best available ‘threshold’ at the time. For
example, drunk driving evaluations are carried out against
an accepted ‘cut off level’ which in the UK is
35 micrograms of alcohol in breath, 80 milligrams per 100
ml in blood, or 108 milligrams in urine, even though these
figures to not correlate to each other in any one individual
at any one time. In the future the cut off level may reduce
to 50 milligrams per 100 ml of blood. Each country has their
own standard, in Scandinavia for example, the driving limit
is only 20 mg per 100 ml of blood.
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The
Society
of Hair Testing, represented by 23 different
countries, in Rome (June 2009) concluded the following
as part of their consensus:
"Either
EtG or FAEE can be used independently for chronic excessive
alcohol consumption assessment. For mutual confirmation
and for exclusion of false positive or false negative
results the determination of both parameters can be
useful, in some special cases."
AbuseCheck
is the only solution in the United States regularly
measuring Hair Alcohol Testing with both markers, and
underpinned by the largest growing database of self
donor reporting information in child protection. |
Similar alcohol misuse thresholds in the UK are currently
60 grams per day or the equivalent in binge drinking.
Drunk driving limits have been established by physical tests
which identify response times and concentration abilities
in individuals compared to blood alcohol level. In practice
there is a large amount of ‘results scatter’ because
alcohol affects different people in different ways, but having
a better response to alcohol than one’s fellow road
users is not a valid defense.
Similarly, the 60 grams of alcohol per day cut off level
has been related to the quantities of hair alcohol markers
detected in a very large number of trial subjects. Our results
are based on current cut off levels. Undoubtedly some people
who are classified as alcohol dependent by our test will no
doubt consider they are not dependent, in the same way that
many drivers caught with an excess of alcohol in their blood
will argue it improves their driving.
Is there a risk of false positives?
Mitigating circumstances could include a serious abnormality
in the metabolism of the donor or abnormal hair growth conditions
such as hirsutism, or recent donor hair transplantation While
we can offer constructive advice on such occasions, they are
not encountered or required very frequently. Consumer Genetics/Trimega
Labs has led the field in this work and is the only organization
worldwide to offer this service coupled with a thorough and
considered medical review, and as such is committed to offering
as much information and advice as possible to clients.
Can hair treatments affect results?
Recent alcohol application to the scalp for head lice will
not affect test results. Cosmetic hair products and shampoos
do not influence results but there may be extreme cases that
should be considered (example: hair modeling where the hair
is constantly being styled). Our experience in this field
would allow us to offer constructive advice on such occasions.
Why do we use FAEEs and the FAEEs
combined with Etg but not Etg alone to indicate alcohol abuse
or abstinence over longer time periods?
Etg alone is still not practicable!
FAEEs (nanogram = one billionth of a gram) appear in hair
in almost one order of magnitude higher than (the relevant
order of magnitude of) Etg (picogram = one trillionth of a
gram). It has been technically possible to measure FAEEs since
1993, whereas the technique for measuring (the relevant range
of) Etg is still in its infancy.
In practice, most hair which is sent for analysis has been
cosmetically treated in some way (bleached, permed etc.).
It has been proven that FAEEs are not significantly affected
by such treatments (Hartwig et al., 2003a). So far no similar
systematic investigations have been carried out for Etg.
FAEE concentrations in hair from other body sites can be
interpreted in a similar fashion as scalp hair (Hartwig et
al., 2003b). No similar studies have been done for Etg.
Extensive studies involving over 1000 donors have been carried
out since 2000. These have enabled us to establish reliable
reference ranges for FAEEs with respect to drinking habits
of various groups:
There are no reliable reference ranges for Etg from comprehensive
studies. Further investigations are in progress to examine
the applicability of the method in practice of the detection
of alcohol abuse.
| AbuseCheck™
FAEE Hair Alcohol Test |
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Single participant FAEE Hair Alcohol Test, collection materials, laboratory
service, and laboratory report. Does not include Legal Specimen Collection
Package. (TAT w/shipping: 14 bus. Days) |
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$500.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ Hair Drug Test (5-Panel) |
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Single participant 5-Panel Hair Drug Test, collection materials, laboratory
service, laboratory report. Does not include Legal Specimen Collection Package.
(TAT w/shipping: 10 bus. Days) |
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$100.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ CDT Alcohol Blood Test |
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Single participant CDT Alcohol Blood Test, collection materials, laboratory
service, and laboratory report. Does not include Legal Specimen Collection
Package. (TAT w/shipping: 10 bus. Days) |
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$215.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ EtG Hair Alcohol Test |
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Single participant EtG Hair Alcohol Test, collection
materials, laboratory service, and laboratory report. Does not include Legal
Specimen Collection Package. (TAT w/shipping: 14 bus. Days) |
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$250.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ Hair Alcohol Test Combo (FAEE & EtG) |
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Single participant FAEE Hair Alcohol Test, EtG
Hair Alcohol Test, collection materials, laboratory service, and laboratory
report. Does not include Legal Specimen Collection Package. (TAT w/shipping:
14 bus. Days) |
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$695.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ Alcohol Test Combo (FAEE, EtG, &
CDT) |
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Single participant FAEE Hair Alcohol Test, EtG
Hair Alcohol Test, CDT Alcohol Blood Test, collection materials, laboratory
service, and laboratory report. Does not include Legal Specimen Collection
Package. (TAT w/shipping: 14 bus. Days) |
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$839.00 |
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AbuseCheck™ Hair Alcohol & Drug Test Combo (HDT + HAT) |
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Single participant Hair Alcohol Test (FAEE) and Hair Drug Test (5-Panel),
collection materials, laboratory service, and laboratory report. Does not
include Legal Specimen Collection Package. (TAT w/shipping: 14 bus. Days) |
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$600.00 |
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:: ADDITIONAL FEES :: |
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Legal Specimen Collection Package |
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Locating and scheduling a legal collection site for a single participant/test,
establishing chain-of-custody for the samples, collections fees, and specimen
shipping. Used for FAEE, EtG, CDT, 5-Panel Drug
Testing. |
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$150.00 |
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Hair Alcohol Test from Body Hair (Additional Fee) |
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Additional Fee for hair alcohol testing (either FAEE or EtG) from body hair if head hair is not available. |
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$100.00 |
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LOD Hair Drug Test (Additional Fee) |
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Additional 5-Panel hair drug test option to analyze at the lowest level
of detection (most sensitive analysis). |
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$40.00 |
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Expert Witness / Testimonial Fees |
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Additional
Information:
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