How Effective Are Saliva Drug Tests?
Drug tests are used in all sorts of different fashions in the modern era. They might be part of an employment screening, a parole check-in, or as part of a larger health and wellness procedure.
When it comes to drug testing, there’s a lot of different routes one can take as well. Saliva tests are one easy and non-invasive way to drug test an individual. But how effective are saliva drug tests?
There are some concerns out there that saliva-based tests may be less reliable than urine or blood tests, for example. Is this true? Read on and we’ll walk you through what you need to know.
How a Saliva Blood Test Works
Compounds that are present in a person’s blood are also present in a person’s saliva. Thus, testing saliva can help to produce some of the same results one would find they were to take take a blood sample.
The psychoactive element of a drug often reveals itself as higher concentrations of compounds in the blood. When a lab analyzes a saliva-based test, they can look for high compound concentrations in the sample, which would indicate recent drug use.
Absorption collection pads are often used to soak up saliva and then are placed in a sealed environment to prevent tampering. A saliva blood test can be administered easily in just about any environment or location.
Advantages of a Saliva Blood Test
As we previously mentioned, a saliva blood test can be a huge help as it is portable and easy to do anywhere. That makes it the ideal drug test to use on-the-go, or when one needs to test someone at the scene of potential intoxication.
Saliva testing actually has some advantage over other forms of drug testing, in that it can detect traces of very recent drug use. Urine samples and other forms of drug testing aren’t able to identify drug use from the few hours leading up to the test. Saliva-based tests can.
The turnaround time for a saliva drug test is also very fast, meaning you don’t have to wait in anticipation of results for a long period of time. These are just a few of the many benefits this form of drug testing can offer.
How Effective Are Saliva Drug Tests?
There is no indication that saliva drug tests are any less accurate than any other type of drug testing. Different tests have different detection windows, but saliva drug tests can detect impairment almost immediately after use, rendering them some of the most effective tests of all.
Urine testing may have a slightly longer window of detection, but saliva drug tests can still find traces of impairment days after consumption.
They are also able to show evidence of a wide range of different substances. They should be as effective at covering all potentially problematic substances as any other available drug test.
Oral Drug Tests
How effective are saliva drug tests? About as effective as can be. If you’re looking for a non-invasive way to test a person’s drug use, a saliva drug test should be highly considered.
Have more questions about how an oral drug test works? Reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help.
