Drug testing is a prominent part of the professional world. Meant to ensure the safety of individual employees as well as your whole team, gathering this information would be a part of your business’s standard routine. However, if you want to receive the most data from these tests, it’s vital that you choose the right medium.

While urine tests have been the standard for a long time, fingernail processing is proving to play a vital role in workplace drug screening. Here, we’ll discuss why a fingernail drug test would be used over a urine test and the advantages you gain from this procedure.

Quicker Sample Taking

One of the primary benefits of performing fingernail tests is that retrieving the necessary sample is quick and easy. This test simply requires a small section of nail clipping. As such, there’s no waiting for individuals to urinate or needing to provide them with instructions for how much urine you need for the test. With this method of drug testing, your team members can return to their day in as little as a few minutes.

Larger Sample Concentration

Fingernails also contain a higher concentration of the substances you’re testing for. Unlike urine, which contains only a fraction of the ingested material during the time of testing, fingernails grow out for several weeks. Additionally, since nails consist of thicker, more compact keratan fibers, they can trap more of the drug than even a strand of head hair.

Wider Sampling Window

Another reason why a fingernail drug test would be used over a urine test is the larger sampling window. As mentioned previously, fingernails can grow out for several weeks before cutting, creating a more detailed timeline of a person’s consumption habits. A fingernail drug test can detect up to 3 to 6 months of drug abuse! This makes for a much longer sampling period and improves your chances of getting an accurate test result. Most drugs are only present in urine for up to 48 hours.

Reduced Risk of Sample Tampering

Above all, though, testing an individual’s fingernails instead of their urine significantly reduces the possibility of dilution or sample tampering. While an individual can find ways around passing a urine test, such as submitting someone else’s urine, there is no way for them to submit someone else’s nail sample. The sample is given in the direct presence of the specimen collector. For this reason, fingernail testing can be a much more secure method to ensure test results are accurate and reliable.

If you’re looking to maintain the safety of your professional team, AMH Nationwide is your number one solution. Our nail tests for alcohol and drugs offer convenient sampling periods, thorough examinations, and fast results. Know that you’ll need to give samples of 100 milligrams for the most effective testing process, and the turnaround time is from one to seven business days. Call today to receive an electronic lab order for your requested tests.