Drug testing is an important part of the hiring process for many companies out there. So, it is important that drug tests are as accurate as possible. The most common form of drug testing regarding pre-employment is a urine test, which is typically quite accurate for relatively recent drug use. Unfortunately, some prospective employees may actually be drug users and try to hide it by cheating. Of course, employers may wonder if it is actually possible to cheat urine testing for drugs. Continue reading to find out the exact details of how people may try to cheat a urine drug test and whether it will work.

Urine Drug Test Sample Dilution

A common way that drug users will try to cheat the test is by drinking a lot of water beforehand to dilute the sample. Or, they may try to put water into the actual sample. This will make the actual levels of drugs appear to be lower, which can risk the chance of a negative test. However, many modern types of tests can detect a diluted sample, which will often result in a retest.

Sample Substitution

Another way that some people may try to cheat is by bringing a substitution sample of clean urine. It may be synthetic urine that was purchased, a urine sample from a friend or family member, or even animal urine. Fortunately, it is difficult to fake a urine drug test using this method because the sample must be at the right temperature to work properly. Urine samples must be between 90-100 degrees to work, so the substitution must match that temperature. This is likely difficult to maintain while transporting it and holding onto it until the test.

Contaminating the Sample with Chemicals

Some people may try to use chemicals to disguise or eliminate drugs that would be contained in the sample. Chemicals used include soap, bleach, salt, eye drops, or peroxide. This is another method of cheating that is quite difficult to pull off. Primarily, this is because modern testing machines are able to easily detect most chemicals that one may try to use. Although, there are a couple that are still not easily detected by machines, such as Visine eye drops and isopropanol.

Drug Detox Methods

If a person has used drugs recently or is worried that a drug is still in their system, they may try detox methods that they have read online or heard about. In most cases, this entails eating certain herbs, drinking special teas that are diuretics, or eating high-fiber foods. Typically, this will not be successful, especially in cases of frequent or very recent use. Though, it may benefit someone who has used it some time ago and only has a slight trace of the drug still in their system.

Looking for Reliable Drug Testing as Part of Your Pre-Employment Process?

If you are looking for accurate and reliable drug testing, then we can help. Here at Soteria Drug Screening, we offer a wide array of tests to suit every type of testing that an employer would like to pursue. For those who only need the basic urine test, then we have multiple types of panel tests, depending on how thorough you would like to be. If you want something more intensive, then we also have hair follicle, oral, and breath alcohol testing available. Feel free to call us at (202) 679-6670 or email us at info@soteriascreening.com with any questions that you may have.