Introduction:

A single hair strand can give a lot of information about you. The hair on your head grows 2-6 years before falling out.  Many tiny blood vessels feed the base of each strand. During that time, your hair shaft absorbs chemicals from any drugs you take. It also contains sweat, your body’s natural oils, and any toxins around you.

What It Can Check For:

Drug use: As your hair grows, some drugs will “stick” to the strands. You can’t wash them out. Because of that, your hair can reveal if you’ve been using drugs like opiods, cocaine amphetamines, and cannabis. While a urine test will reveal if you’ve used drugs in the last several days, hair testing can show if you’ve done drugs over the past 3 months.

Heavy metals: If your hair has toxins like mercury and arsenic, you could be more likely to get certain health problems.

Some genetic disorders: For example, a hair sample can help diagnose Fragile X syndrome. This is a common disorder that’s passed down in families.

Family links: Analyzing hair follicles side by side sometimes can show if people are blood relatives.

Alopecia: If you’re losing hair or your hair doesn’t grow like it should, a close-up look can help your doctor figure out the best treatment.

Police evidence: Hair samples can help police identify suspects or victims after a crime.

Types of Hair analysis:

Forensic scientists perform 3 major types of hair analysis:

(1) Testing the hair shaft for drugs or nutritional deficiencies in a person’s system,

(2) Analyzing DNA collected from the root of the hair.

(3) Viewing hair under a microscope to determine if it’s from a particular person or animal.

What Affects the Test?

Things that can interfere with your test and the accuracy of the results include:

• The area of the body from which the hair sample was taken.
• Your age.
• Your hair color.
• Your race.
• The rate of your hair growth.
• Your use of hair products, such as hair colors and sprays.
• External environmental factors, such as where you live and work.

Conclusion:

Hair analysis has become more reliable and acceptable over the past 20 years. But there are still issues that raise legal and ethical questions about its use, including possible false positives and different results for people with different hair colors or ethnic backgrounds.