It would help if you had in mind that drug testing is one of the most common choices employers make as part of pre-employment screening. However, working in some industries requires regular drug testing to ensure the safety of others and yourself, among other things.
We are talking about all industries that are regulated by the Department of Transportation, which is why you need to be completely clean if you wish to work this particular type of work.
That is the main reason why you should learn everything about drug testing timelines because they will explain to you how great drugs will stay in your system after consumption. The drugs tend to linger in your hair, saliva, urine, and blood.
At the same time, drug detection times depend on the type of drug and other factors as well. We recommend you to check out DOT drug testing info to learn more about it.
Remember that some screening methods will not check for the presence of drugs you consumed, but the presence of metabolites or byproducts that entered your urine and hair after passing metabolic processes.
The amount of metabolites within your urine or hair depends on the type of drugs you consumed, the amount, the potency, and other factors that depend on the individual that consumed them in the first place.
Drugs tend to remain in blood and saliva up to twenty-four hours. On the other hand, hair test comes with highest detection time, which means that you will be able to determine everything you consumed in the last three months.
Therefore, you should have in mind that the amount of time you will need to cleanse yourself depends on numerous factors. Several methods come with different windows of detection, which is something you should remember.
At the same time, drug-testing timelines depend on your physiological makeup, such as the amount of body fat, weight, height, age, metabolic rate, state of your health, exercise patterns as well as state of your mind.
At the same time, your health situation while consuming drugs can affect how long they will stay inside your body. Finally, addiction plays a crucial role in how long you will need to wait to cleanse yourself thoroughly.
Different Drug Screening Methods
If you wish to conduct a drug test, you should know that the certified laboratory would check the presence of active drugs or metabolites from your saliva, urine, or blood. They will check out for the presence of metabolites.
As soon as you consume a particular drug, your drug will break it down into metabolites that will enter the urine, hair follicles, and run throughout the blood.
That is the main reason why urinalysis will not check for the presence of active compounds but metabolites such as THC-COOH instead of THC.
Having metabolites within your body means that you consumed drugs and that your metabolism broke everything down and that you will fail the test.
Remember that when your body stops using metabolites, it will start storing them in cells, including your nails, fatty cells, and hair follicles. Therefore, the fatter you are, the longer you will need to cleanse your body.
We recommend you to click here to learn more about screenings in general.
On the other hand, saliva and blood screenings function differently than urinalysis because they are detecting the active compound instead of metabolites.
Therefore, it makes it much more accurate, and they will be able to determine the number of drugs you consumed, and when did you do it in the first place.
Keep in mind that drugs in saliva will leave as soon as possible, which is an indicator that you are currently intoxicated, among other things.
Factors That Affect Drug Screening Timelines
In the further article, we decided to present to you the list of factors and variables that will affect the timelines. For instance, if you are using drugs frequently due to addiction, you will need more time to remove it from your system.
The same thing goes if you built up a tolerance, which will affect your metabolic rate and overall health. These factors will help you remove the compounds and byproducts from your body on time.
- A small or single dose of a particular drug that you consumed for the first time will not linger in your system too long. Everything depends on the type of drug, which is why cannabis will stay in your body for up to seven days, while heroin will break down in a matter of hours.
- In case you have a fast metabolic rate, you will be able to flush out the metabolites faster than other people with a slow metabolism will.
- Remember that body mass is another indication of whether your body will metabolize byproducts slow or fast. If you have more fat percentage, you will store metabolites within them, which means that you will need more time to cleanse yourself thoroughly.
- If you are physically active, you will be able to flush drugs faster than people that are out of shape and overweight. The main reason for that is low body fat, which means that metabolites will not store inside and cause havoc to your body.
- Another important factor is your age because it can define the timeframe you should wait for drugs to leave your body. Remember that as we age, the metabolic rate tends to slow down and drop, which will affect the timeframe.
- We have mentioned above that if you have tolerance for a particular drug that could lead to addiction, and you will need more time to cleanse your body than the first-time users.
- Finally, the pH levels of your urine can affect the detection period. Generally, if you have more acid in your urine, you will be able to cleanse your body faster than before. However, have in mind that acidity may affect your overall health.
Check this link: https://www.wikihow.com/Pass-a-Urine-Drug-Test to learn how to pass urinalysis with ease.
Final Word
You need to be aware that screenings can detect the presence of prescription drugs, especially if the abuse can lead to severe consequences and affect the security of the workplace.
Even though prescription drugs are legal, you need to warn your employer so that you can prevent the further hassle.