From:    Frc                                    Area: Magical Plants
To:      Vitriol                                20 Apr 92 19:28:00
Subject: Re: DOT Mandatory Testing              UpdReq 

Vi>  some help... Does anyone know how long the following substances are
Vi>  detectable in (a) urine test, (b) blood test (GCMS):
Vi>  Alcohol (as in *drunk*, not just a few beers)
Vi>  Cocaine (Toot)
Vi>  Cocaine (Crack, Freebase)
Vi>  Crystal Meth
Vi>  LSD
Vi>  Marijuana
Vi>  Mushrooms
Vi>  Percoset and other depressants
Vi>  Peyote
First of all, there are several types of urine testing.  Most forms of mass
screenings use a form of enzyme-multiplied-immunoassay-test (EMIT) for urine.
GCMS may also be used for urine as well as blood, but it is usually only used
as a "back-up" to do a second pass verification in the case of contested
results as its cost (100+$ per screen) makes it cost prohibitive for mass
screens.  There is also thin-layer chromatography.  TLC is not AS expensive
as GCMS (50+$), but it has the added "benefit" of showing ALL substances in
one test and their relative levels as well; something that EMIT is incapable
of showing (ie. seperate tests for each substance and no "level" shown, only
the presence of the targeted metabolites.)
If you wish, I can provide you with photocopies of tables for each type of
testing and the duration of metabolites.  I don't have my reference handy,
but I can give you rough approximations.
Alcohol is gone in about 48 hours (but alcohol is in SO many things, a false
positive is very easy to fake).
Cocaine is gone in about 5 days.
THC takes about 45 days (depending on several factors) for a person of
"average" weight and frame.
Just about everything else is 20 to 25 days.
BTW, by far the most widely used screens for urinanalysis are the EMITS
marketed by Syva Labratories (I have the factory publications).
The only other method I'm aware of is Radio-Immune Assay (RIA).
Since it uses radioactive isotopes, each lab must be certified by the NRC
and this makes it impractical for mass screens.
There are several good books out on this subject.  Would you like their
titles and address for ordering?

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