There is a new type of drug testing equipment being utilized to detect illegal substances.  It is called the Sweat Patch.  It is like a drug detection band aid and it monitors the toxins in your system by detecting the presence of drugs in your system by examining your perspiration.  The patch is generally worn for two weeks and is generally utilized for monitoring people on parole and for custody cases.  The Sweat Patch has not been generally accepted for workplace and pre employment screenings just yet.  It resembles a band aid as it has a gauze pad surrounded by a polyurethane adhesive patch which sticks securely to the skin surface of the person being tested.  The polyurethane patch is a semi-permeable surface which allows water and gases to escape.  Initial tests were done applying drugs to the exterior of the patch but there was no contamination to the testing gauze from exterior application of contaminants.

The patch is generally worn on the upper arm of the person and the area that it is attached to is swabbed with isopropyl alcohol to sterilize the area.  The patch is worn for seven to fourteen days and after the predetermined testing time the patch is removed and sent to the lab for analysis via an immunoassay screening system.  If there is any presence of drugs found in the initial screening then more precise screening methods are used.  These are called gas chromatography or mass spectrometry.  There are specific cut off levels for each drug and if the levels found in the subject exceed these cutoff levels then it is reported as a positive result.

(To Be Continued)