How do at-home drug tests work?
At-home drug tests require a sample of hair, saliva, urine, or breath. These tests may give instant results or may require sending the sample to a laboratory for testing. Some products test for only one specific drug, while other products test for multiple drugs. Breath and saliva tests test for the presence of alcohol. Saliva reactive pads are placed in the mouth and read 2 minutes later. A color change is compared with a control, giving the approximate blood alcohol level. The breath test requires the individual to blow in a small tube. Similar to the reactive pads, a color change can be used to interpret the blood alcohol level. Are at-home tests for illicit drugs accurate? Drug testing is a complicated process, even when done by a professional laboratory. In one study of over 2,500 urine samples tested by a certified laboratory, there was a false-positive (positive result when drugs were not used) rate of 2% to 4%, depending on the drug detected and the test used. The false-negativ
