Ethnic Hair Care Products May Increase False Positives in Hair Drug Testing

The question of why different races appear more susceptible to hair contamination by external drugs remains controversial. This research studied susceptibility of head hair to external cocaine and methamphetamine when hair products have been applied. Three different chemical classes of ethnic hair products were applied to Caucasian, Asian, and African hair. 

Some products increased the methamphetamine and cocaine concentrations in all hair types. A unique finding of this research is that certain ethnic hair products can replace moisture as a diffusion medium, thereby increasing the susceptibility to contamination over 100-fold compared to petroleum-based products.

Via: http://ht.ly/RU69p

By: Kidwell DA1, Smith FP2, Shepherd AR3.

• 1Chemistry Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, United States.
• 2University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, United States. Electronic address: NRLSummerResearchFaculty@gmail.com.
• 3American Society for Engineering Education Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program, United States.