Want to Know About Sweat Drug Screening?

Illegal drug abuse is a bad habit that results in serious health effects. It is even responsible for a large number of deaths in the United States. Checking for drug usage among individuals is important to identify the abuse at early stages. It helps in reducing the current side effects of health and even prevents further damage to the body. Different methods of drug testing are available. These include urine drug testing, saliva drug testing, hair drug testing, and blood drug testing. Have you ever heard of sweat drug testing? Proceed further to know about it.

From the name, you can know that the drug or its metabolite is detected from sweat of an individual. In a sweat drug test, certain patches are attached to the skin surface for about a period of two weeks. They are designed in such a way that they have some security features. These features keep them from being removed and reapplied without the knowledge of the testing agency. A adhesive layer is present on the thin transparent film of a surgical dressing of the patch. A cellulose pad is attached to it. The sweat gets absorbed and concentrated in the cellulose pad. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor are transferred out through the transparent film. However, the drug constituents in the sweat are not lost.

As the patch is kept for many days, the sweat gets saturated and the excreted drug slowly concentrates. Then the patch is removed and sent immediately to the laboratory for analysis. This method of drug testing is mostly used by child protective services and other government institutions concerned with use over long periods when urine drug testing is not applicable or practical.