NEW TEST SCREENS FOR CHEMICALS USED TO OBSCURE EMPLOYEE URINE SAMPLES

Be punctual, dress nicely, look people in the eye--and make sure your
urine is clean. So many employers now demand a cup of the yellow stuff
as part of a job screening for new workers that products with names
like Urine Luck! and Klear have found a market; the solutions flood
the urine with chemicals that can obscure the results of urine tests.
But now a team of Tennessee researchers has demonstrated that a test
used to analyze contaminated water can detect and identify those
chemicals. The new application, they say, should add one more screen
for employers to use when checking for drug use. Workplace drug
testing has become increasingly popular over the past decade, in part
because the federal government requires testing programs of some of
its contractors.

Urine tests typically screen for at least five illegal
substances--cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and phencyclidine
(PCP)--all of which stay in the system for a couple of days minimum.
But the tests are hardly airtight; false results can occur when the
sample has been contaminated, either by accident or on purpose. The
Tennessee scientists say their screen could at least cut down on the
latter.