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 drug tests and poppy seeds




From: iayork@panix.com (Ian A. York)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Poppy seeds & drug tests
Date: 20 Feb 1996 09:07:39 -0500

In article <4g5hpd$gsn@itchy.itsnet.com>, Richard Knowley <rjk@itsnet.com> wrote: >
> my wife eating a poppy seed muffin. She told my wife that she could
>not anything with poppy seeds because it could make her test positive
>for drug at work (They have a random testing program at her work).

It's true.

DuPont RL. Baumgartner WA.
Drug testing by urine and hair analysis: complementary features and scientific issues.
Forensic Science International. 70(1-3):63-76, 1995

"...The main concerns with urinalysis are endogenous evidentiary false positives caused by passive drug exposure, e.g., ingestion of poppy seed. This problem arises from the hypersensitivity of the urine test, i.e. the need to use low cut-off levels in order to compensate for the temporary recording of drug use. This problem does not occur with hair analysis since its wide window of detection and permanent record of drug use ensure that the detection efficiency of the test is not compromised by the use of more effective cut-off levels guarding against passive endogenous drug exposure. On the other hand, exogenous evidentiary false positives due to external contamination of hair by drugs present in the environment (e.g., smoke) are the main concern of hair analysis...."

Ian "Seinfeld: the cutting edge of medical research" York -- 

      Ian York   (iayork@panix.com)  <http://www.panix.com/~iayork/>
      "-but as he was a York, I am rather inclined to suppose him a
       very respectable Man." -Jane Austen, The History of England



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