What is Adulteration?

For an employee, taking a urine drug test can be a stressful experience. In many occupations, failing a drug test can mean instant dismissal and loss of livelihood. For this reason, those who fear that their drug use will be detected may resort to radical measures to make sure that they are not discovered.

Urine testing is commonly used in workplace drug screening because it can indicate recent drug use, but the specimen can be vulnerable to dilution, substitution or the addition of interfering substances.

Contents

• What Is Adulteration?
• What Are Adulteration Test Strips?
• Typical Parameters on Adulteration Test Strips

What Is Adulteration?

Any attempt to change a drug test result by tampering with a urine specimen is known as adulteration. This can produce a false negative or invalid result by diluting the specimen, interfering with the test or damaging the drug metabolites being tested for.

Tampering with a urine specimen undermines the accuracy and purpose of drug testing. In workplace and sporting settings, it may also breach the organisation’s testing policy and lead to disciplinary or other consequences.

Some individuals resort to adulteration as a means to deceive the system and evade the repercussions associated with their drug usage. They may opt to introduce substances such as bleach, soap or eye drops into the urine sample to modify its composition. Consequently, these substances have the potential to mask the presence of some drugs or impede the process of detecting them.

Adulteration of urine specimens can occur in different ways, with one method being the addition of water or other liquids to dilute the concentration of drugs present. The intention behind this technique is to decrease drug metabolite levels to the point where they are undetectable by testing, potentially leading to a false negative result.

To combat tampered samples, drug testing facilities have implemented various strategies. These measures include conducting temperature checks and measuring pH levels to identify abnormalities. They also involve specifically testing for substances commonly used for adulteration. Additionally, observed collection procedures, where permitted and appropriate, can help preserve the integrity of the specimen.

What Are Adulteration Test Strips?

Adulteration test strips have been designed as a cost-effective way of detecting whether a urine specimen may have been adulterated. They are also known as specimen validity tests. These types of tests offer results within one minute.

Typical Parameters on Adulteration Test Strips

Creatinine is found in urine as a waste product and can be used as a marker during specimen-validity testing. Dilution may occur in vivo, when the donor consumes an excessive volume of liquid, or in vitro, when liquid is added to the urine after collection. These are among the most common forms of specimen tampering.

In vivo dilution is often called “flushing” and involves the donor drinking excessive amounts of water or using diuretics, such as herbal teas, to try to affect the drug test.

Low creatinine may indicate a dilute specimen, but creatinine should be assessed alongside specific gravity and the criteria supplied with the test or required by the relevant testing programme. An unusual screening result should be investigated rather than treated as proof of tampering on its own.

Specific Gravity can help identify sample dilution because it measures the density of urine relative to water. Typical urine values are often around 1.003 to 1.030, but results should be interpreted using the ranges supplied with the test and the applicable testing standard. A result outside the expected range does not, on its own, prove deliberate adulteration.

Nitrite testing can help detect certain commercial adulterants intended to interfere with the detection of THC-COOH, a cannabis metabolite. However, nitrite may also be present naturally in some urine samples, so an abnormal result should be assessed against the test instructions and confirmed where the result has significant consequences.

Glutaraldehyde is a chemical found in some commercial adulteration agents. Its presence in a urine specimen may indicate that the specimen has been adulterated.

pH testing can help identify unusually acidic or alkaline specimens. Expected ranges and adulteration thresholds vary between testing products and programmes, so results should be interpreted using the manufacturer’s instructions.

Oxidants/PCC testing can detect oxidising agents such as bleach, hydrogen peroxide and pyridinium chlorochromate. An abnormal result may indicate adulteration and should be confirmed where it could affect an employment, legal or disciplinary decision.

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