The most common drug tests used today include hair, urine, and nail sample tests. While hair and urine tests are reliable options, they’re limited in their scope of test results and only show results within days of substance abuse. Here are four reasons why a fingernail drug test might be needed as an alternative.

Not Enough of a Hair Sample

One of the primary reasons employers opt for a fingernail drug test is due to a lack of available scalp hair for a hair test. Hair tests may also use samples from body hair, pubic hair, and facial hair, but anyone trimmed or unable to provide a substantial hair sample may not have enough of a supply to conduct a valid test. More so, certain individuals, such as those with alopecia, have no body hair to provide. Therefore, a fingernail test is the next reliable alternative.

Not Enough of a Urine Sample

Alternatively, drug tests are nerve-racking experiences, and those with sensitive bladders may not be suitable for a urinalysis test. In the case of urinalysis drug tests, employees may not be able to urinate on command, thus negating the test. Additionally, urine analyses have a limited time frame that only shows drug use within days of the test.

Test for Different Substances

While there are different drug test panels to test for many substances, fingernail tests can test for more substances than a typical urine analysis or hair sample. A fingernail alcohol test will test for alcohol via fingernails and toenails. There’s almost a guaranteed sample assuming the employee did not cut their nails beforehand. Some nail tests further test for amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl, ketamine, and more. The panel size of the test determines the number of substances it tests.

Can Test Within Months of Use

The last reason why a fingernail drug test might be needed is that it tests for longer substance use than alternative tests. Hair and urine drug tests typically have a shorter window of detection. Fingernail tests, on the other hand, can detect drugs for 3 or even 6 months of use. This can prove more reliable to indicate long-term substance abuse in employees who attempt to navigate a test by forgoing use of a drug within days of the test.

AMH Nationwide offers nail tests for alcohol to spot alcohol abuse within months of use. These alcohol fingernail tests use samples from fingernails and toenails and provide results within an estimated one to seven business days, although the average usually falls between three to five business days. The alcohol fingernail test detects use from fingernail samples within an estimated three to six months of potential usage. Toenail samples may detect use within one year. Prices on these tests vary, so call now to learn more about our nail tests. Keep in mind that it takes one to two weeks for alcohol abuse to show in a nail sample, and environmental factors may affect results.