What Causes a False Positive on Pregnancy Tests?
Following Directions Home pregnancy tests work by determining pregnancy through the detection of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone. Despite the fact that most home pregnancy tests claim to have high accuracy rates (most claim 99 percent accuracy), you can receive a false positive (a test that states you are pregnant when you are not). For this reason, it is important to always follow the directions when taking a home pregnancy test. Not following directions is a major cause of a false positive, according to justmommies.com. Read the test within the time limit provided on the instructions (anywhere between two to five minutes). Use a timing device to track how much time has passed instead of just guessing, justmommies.com suggests. Another issue is “Evaporation Lines.” These lines can occur when urine crosses the test strip and briefly changes the color on the test, which you could misconstrue as being positive. Pregnancy tests should have a watermark that resembles the wat
