On-Site Drug Testing

It is at least a decade since scientists turned their imaginations to creating new compact, portable test instruments and self-contained test kits that could be used to analyze urine and saliva for alcohol, drugs, and their metabolites. Although the potential applications for such tests at the site of specimen collection, now called “on-site” or “point-of-care” testing, range far beyond hospital emergency rooms and law enforcement needs, it was catalyzed by the requirements of workplace drug testing and other drugs-of-abuse testing programs. These programs are now a minor national industry in the United States and in some western European countries, and cover populations as diverse as the military, incarcerated criminals, people suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, all athletes from college to professional ranks, and of course the general employed population, which is monitored for illegal drug use and numbers in the millions. It is not surprising, then, that the need for rapid and precise tests, conducted economically by trained professionals, has become a major goal. Current government approved and peer reviewed laboratory methods for urine analysis serve present needs very well and have become remarkably robust over the past twenty years, but the logistics of testing some moving populations, such as the military, the Coast Guard, workers on off-shore oil platforms, and athletes—perhaps the most mobile of these groups—are unacceptably cumbersome.

Foreword by Dr. Bryan Finkle
"This book would appeal to anyone with an interest in on-site drug testing -- from employers to worried parents, criminal justice workers, anxious new employees, laboratorians (all levels, from technical staff up to directors of laboratories), toxicologists, etc. This book contains 18 chapters that cover in detail all available on-site drug testing devices and relevant aspects. A nice feature is an early chapter discussing the pharmacokinetics of the drugs assayed, and interpretation of results depending on the time of ingestion versus the time of testing. As a laboratory director, I greatly appreciate the discussion regarding nonlaboratorian test personnel and the as-to-be-expected relatively worse performance when compared to laboratorians (i.e., more result variability and related issues including substandard documentation). As a parent, I enjoyed reading the many chapters devoted to specific devices, discussions of the underlying technology, and review of the devices' performance in actual use. There is a great final chapter listing all the various substances that can cause interference and alter the test result. This book should really be titled "Anything you ever wanted to know about do-it-yourself drug testing." The book is easy to read and understand, and would appeal to nontechnically trained audience (e.g., parents, police officers, lawyers, etc.). I really like this book! It's going up on the bookshelf for easy access next time I have to discuss the results of an on-site test relative to that generated by my clinical laboratory."-Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"On -Site Drug Testing is the only current reference book devoted to this topic. The book has 18 chapters, each written by one or more well-known experts in workplace drug testing. The book's editors and most of the chapters authors are forensic toxicologists....On-Site Drug Testing is a reference book that will be most useful for forensictoxicologists." - Medical Review Officer Update

"...The eighteen chapters successfully review all aspects of on-site drug testing from the needs of many various programs, evaluation of devices and and test kits, and the legal and medical contexts that form the background against which this science must be applied. The authors are international authorities with a huge aggregate professional experience in analytical toxicology of alcohol and drug detection in biological specimens. They provide for the careful reader a critical review, conclusions, and recommendations concerning the present status and future viability of point-of-care, on-site testing...On-Site Drug Testing is timely and will serve as a landmark in the progress of this science."-From the Foreword by Bryan S. Finkle, PhD, DABFT, Consulting Forensic Toxicologist, Cameron, MT

"On-Site Drug Testing is a reference book that will be most useful for forensic toxicologists. MROs who provide consultative services, including program development and expert testimony, will also find it a useful and perhaps necessary part of their library." -MRO Update

"The book is also to be commended on its use of product contact details and on the clarity of its writing throughout. It is well writtena nd very readbale and so is auseful first text for anyone wanting to gain more general information on on-site testing or when selecting which of the test kis they are considering . " -British Toxicological Society Newsletter

"The book is also to be commended on its use of product contact details and on the clarity of its writing throughout. It is well written and very readable and so is a useful first text for anyone wanting to gain more general information on on-site testing or when selecting which of the test kits they are considering using. I thought the length was appropriate and price reasonable..." - Newsletter of the British Toxicological Society

"Comprehensive and authoritative, On-Site Drug Testing illuminates the state of on-site drug testing today, and provides all those responsible a firm basis for choosing the best test devices and techniques most suited to their purposes." -Clinical Laboratory

"...collects writings from some of the foremost experts in analytic toxicology and the jurisprudence of drug testing. This collected work adequately covers the subject. It provides a source book for persons interested in what products are available to accomplish the testing, as well as a general framework for some of the issues involved in accomplishing the testing. It is also an important source of data for the attorney defending or attacking the credibility of on-site testing." -Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology