[Analysis of drugs and abuse substances in the keratinic matrix]

Hair analysis of xenobiotics is an ideal addendum to blood and urine analysis because it can reveal information that is not available through analysis of the other two specimens. However, there are still some unresolved issues that may affect the legal acceptance of hair testing to quantify drug consumption or exposition. The present paper shows hypotheses on mechanisms of drug incorporation in the hair shaft, variability factors pending on incorporation, methodology for hair collection and extraction, analytes determination and finally data presentation and interpretation.