Drug Testing Requirements - TLC (2023)

FAQs

Does TLC show up on a drug test? ›

TLC Licensed Drivers (Medallion, Street Hail Livery and For-hire vehicle drivers) must take and pass a drug test EVERY YEAR in order to keep their license current and valid.

Aside from launching a legal challenge, your best defense against urine testing is to be clean. Unfortunately, this may be difficult since urine tests may detect marijuana 1-5 days after an occasional use, 1-3 weeks in regular users, and 4-6 weeks in multiple daily users.

Q: How is a urine drug test collected? A: Urine drug testing requires a minimum of 30 mL of urine (45 mL for a U.S. Department of Transportation collection) collected in the privacy of a restroom.

How is the TLC Test Performed? A blood sample is usually withdrawn from veins, and the blood sample is collected in a vial tube. The sample is analyzed in the laboratory, and the result is interpreted as a report.

It's a good idea for prospective employees going in for a drug test to take a copy of their prescription in order to avoid any serious misunderstandings during testing.

Common excuses for failing a drug test

I kissed my boyfriend after he smoked a joint. My dentist gave me something strong for a sore tooth. I ate a lot of poppy seed muffins for breakfast. I failed because of second-hand marijuana smoke.

Typically ingesting 1-2 liters or more within an hour of testing is sufficient to dilute most specimens for a 2–6 hour period. Diuretics such as caffeine and cranberry juice and some medications, including water pills may cause diluted urine samples.

The most optimal color for your urine is a pale yellow. If it is a darker yellow or orange, it can mean you are becoming dehydrated. An orange urine could indicate a serious liver condition. Darker brown can be caused by foods or medication.

Drug testing specimen types

Illicit substances are detectable for only five to 10 days in urine; whereas, hair drug tests can detect drug or alcohol use for up to 90 days. Blood testing is very accurate, but costly and invasive. It does have a shorter detection period (minutes to hours), however.

How accurate are lab drug tests? ›

Even the best instant products can only guarantee 99% accuracy. The results are not being read by a lab scientist. In most cases, the results are being read by somebody at the point of collection or even a safety manager if it's a post accident taking place onsite.

Also, people metabolize drugs at different rates depending on age, the presence of other drugs, as well as dietary and genetic factors. It takes around five half-lives for a drug to become undetectable. A half-life is the amount of time it takes for a drug concentration in the body to decrease by 50%.

Collect at least 10 ml of urine. We try and standardize the volume of urine used for urinalysis. This is impossible to do if samples ranging from 0.5 ml (way too little to do anything useful with) to 100 ml are collected. In addition, we need a minimum of 10 ml of urine for electrophoresis.

Drug test results typically take 24 to 48 hours, depending on the type of test being performed (e.g., urine, hair or DOT). If Concentra serves only as the collection site for your drug tests, then results will be reported to you directly from your selected lab/third-party administrator, and result times may vary.

A small amount of urine should initially fall into the toilet bowl before it is collected (this clears the urethra of contaminants). Then, in a clean container, catch about 1 to 2 ounces of urine and remove the container from the urine stream. The container is then given to the health care provider.

The normal range for TLC is between 4,000 and 11,000 cells per cubic millimeter of blood.

To lower your high white blood cell count, you should include the following in your diet: Vitamin C. Eating Vitamin C will help regulate the levels of white blood cells in your body. Fruits like lemons, oranges, and lime are rich in vitamin C, and so are papayas, berries, guavas, and pineapples.

An increase in TLC, known as leukocytosis, indicates acute infections and inflammation. It is followed up with other tests to determine the exact cause of the abnormal results.

If you fail a drug test because you had medications in your system for which you have a prescription, a company typically can't rescind a job offer, but exceptions exist.

Urinalysis – A urine test is the most common form of pre-employment testing and is typically conducted once a conditional offer of employment has been sent. A urine test can show traces of drug use even after the effects of the drug have worn off and remain in the body for an extended period of time.

Is it better to fail a drug test or refuse? ›

Refusing to take a drug test is much like refusing to take a breathalyzer; it's your right to say no, but just taking the test is usually the better option. The question you pose shouldn't be whether you can refuse a drug test, but instead whether refusal is a smart decision. Drug tests are ordered for many reasons.

Failing a drug test in California means that an employer can legally deny you employment, or terminate your employment depending on the conditions of your hiring. Once you have been hired, the employer may choose to continue your employment but decline to promote you until you pass the next series of drug tests.

Clear urine is a sign of good hydration and a healthy urinary tract. However, if they consistently notice clear urine and also have extreme or unusual thirst, it is best to speak to a doctor.

The water in the toilets will likely be dyed, to prevent you from diluting or adulterating the sample. Unless there are reasons to suspect you will tamper with the specimen, you should be allowed to fill the specimen cup in the privacy of a closed toilet stall.

When you're staying hydrated, your urine will be a light yellow, close-to-clear color. If you're getting dehydrated, you'll notice that your urine is becoming a deep amber or even light brown.

Yellow and orange colors indicate a positive test result, while any other color is reported as a negative result. Supplementary File 1.

Clear urine sends a clear message: You may be drinking too much water. Now it's true your body needs water to stay hydrated and function properly. The basic rule of thumb is to aim for drinking 64 ounces of fluid a day to keep your system operating at peak efficiency.

What about accuracy? Lab-based drug tests are more accurate. We like to say they are more rigorous, more involved, and more defensible in a court of law, all of which are elements certain organizations must consider, particularly heavily regulated industries, like the DOT.

How sensitive are lab urine tests? ›

These screening tests tend to be fairly specific and highly sensitive for the drugs being analyzed. If a non-negative sample is detected, labs utilize technologies like gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to confirm the presence or absence of specific drugs, thereby preventing false positives.

Blood tests are the most accurate drug tests but are also the most expensive option. Another challenge with blood tests is that drugs do not stay in the blood long; for example, marijuana only stays in the blood for a few hours after a single use and stays for 24 hours for chronic users.

TLC can be used in forensic studies where body fluids, such as urine and blood can be tested for the presence of drugs. Acidic and neutral drugs can be identified by using octadecyl silica in the stationary phase, while plain silica and octadecyl silica can be used to identify basic drugs.

A thin-layer chromatography (TLC) procedure has been developed for the analysis of urine samples for benzoylecgonine and norpropoxyphene, the major metabolites of cocaine and propoxyphene, respectively.

Originally developed by a large pediatric hospital*, TLC in this case stands for Touch, Look, and Compare. It's a mnemonic device that nurses are encouraged to follow when inspecting an IV insertion site to spot early warning signs of complications.

This product also contains an opioid cough suppressant (antitussive) that affects a certain part of the brain, reducing the urge to cough. Antihistamines relieve watery eyes, itchy eyes/nose/throat, runny nose, and sneezing. Opioid cough suppressants should not be used by children younger than 18 years.