HAIR SCANNING

 

Hair is a protein that grows out of hair follicles in the skin.

Normally, a hair grows in the hair follicle for many months, stops growing, and falls out. A new hair then grows in the follicle. It takes weeks for a hair sample to show changes in the body, because hair grows slowly.

 

Hair samples do not show recent changes in the body, such as drug use within the past few days. But a hair analysis may show drug use or exposure to chemicals that occurred over the last few months.

​

For DNA testing, the root of one hair is needed to analyse DNA and to establish a person's genetic makeup.

 

Hair preparation and the part of your body from which the hair is taken varies.

In general, your hair should be washed and free of any hair care products.

If a DNA test is done on the hair, then the hair collected needs to have the root attached.

​

Hair samples are taken from a specific part of the body, such as from the back of the scalp by the neck. Hair samples are generally collected from the section of the hair closest to the skin. Hair close to the skin or scalp includes the most recent growth, which provides the most accurate information about what has occurred recently in the body.

 

For DNA testing, the hair must include the root. This requires that the hair be plucked, not cut.

 

• Clip a small sample of your hair (usually about a spoonful) from the nape of your neck. The sample should be 1 in. (2.5 cm) to 1.5 in. (4 cm) long and should include the new growth closest to the scalp.

• Put the clippings in a plastic bag and seal it.

• include any information about the type of hair treatments you have used, including shampoos, conditioners, colorings, bleaches, and permanents.

​

What the hair sample contains is determined not only by nutrition and internal metabolism but also by external substances.

 

Air pollution, mineral content of the water supply, exposure to industrial waste, shampoos, hair dyes, hair sprays, permanents, and bleaches may raise or lower the levels of certain minerals in the hair.

 

Also, the use of medicines such as birth control pills can change the mineral concentration of hair.

​