Contamination Webinar Review: What Did I Learn?

Key Learnings About Sample Contamination in Child Custody Cases

Hi Team, Jonatas here (follow me on LinkedIn). Throughout a decade of experience providing DNA, Drug and Alcohol testing services, I have had many learning opportunities. Both via company-provided training development schemes and my own personal experiences dealing with local authorities, solicitors, prison establishments, parents, guardians, children and vulnerable individuals. 

Even so, there’s always room to learn. I recently had the opportunity to participate in the webinar session hosted by Dr Salah (LinkedIn) on the subject of “Contamination of Toxicology Samples in Child Custody Cases” and wanted to share three key takeaways:

1/ Kinds of Contamination Sources 

In the session, Dr Salah talked about the percentage of cocaine contaminated bank notes in circulation in the UK, being higher than 50% and close to 75%, highlighting how easy the process of external drug contamination can be.  

What’s more, as a child’s hair is more porous than that of an adult, they are more at risk of environmental contamination.  

If a parent is an abuser of substances, their sweat will be contaminated, meaning that the mere action of affection or hugging or stroking a child’s hair can cause contamination. Further to this, pillows and sofas can also be contaminated with drugs in locations where drug use is rife.

2/ The Impact of a Result When Not Considering External Contamination

I remember as a child always enjoying a good jumping session on the sofa and my parents’ bed. It made me consider how a normal day-to-day part of a child’s life can have such an impact in their familial life if all proper considerations are not taken when conducting a drug test. By this I mean: Could a child test positive for a drug test just by jumping on a sofa!? 

In our line of work, it is paramount to ensure that a child’s welfare is maintained. Finding a child to have consumed drugs can have serious ramifications with parents facing the prospect of going to jail, rather than receiving a supervision ruling if passive exposure was the case, not active consumption. 

This makes the determination of exposure due to contamination not only an important consideration for scientific purposes, but a morally important delineation.

3/ What AttoLife does to ensure the results reflect environmental aspects in conjunction with consumption data

Let’s consider a typical hair strand test (HST) requested to explore a typical MOCCAB panel. Before testing a child’s hair sample, AttoLife performs the following procedure:

• Prepare the hair by cutting to the correct length and testing specification 

• Insert the hair in a cleansing mixture (solvent) 

• Wash the hair with centrifugation methods 

• Separate the hair wash extract from the hair to be tested separately.  

The wash extract is tested for any drug residues and compared against the hair analysis, providing us with key information and allowing the laboratory to comment appropriately on whether it is less likely or not that the child has consumed a substance.

Did you miss the webinar?

To hear this information first hand, you can watch the contamination webinar on demand. The past version of myself will see you there. 

To request a quote about our drug testing services, please click here.