Eurofins Suomi >> Ymparisto ja teollisuus >> Uutiset ja artikkelit >> Drug testing is important for occupational safety – not just in Finland but around the world

Ymparisto ja teollisuus >> Uutiset ja artikkelit >> Drug testing is important for occupational safety – not just in Finland but around the world

Drug testing is important for occupational safety – not just in Finland but around the world

Drugs are a serious risk to occupational health and safety. What are the drugs involved and in what quantity? These are the sorts of questions facing human resources in large production facilities, for instance. This year, to help you take the necessary preventive measures, our environment testing service now includes testing for illegal and prescription drugs.

The world has been waiting for a new drug testing service

Testing for drugs is important when you want to proactively help users and prevent the accidents that drug abuse can cause. Measuring levels of drug use is difficult because it’s hard to get reliable results. Surveys generally depend on the truthfulness of self-reports alone. The only really unbiased way to determine whether drugs are being used is to test the sanitary wastewater. These results can be used in planning the next steps.

“Drug testing is a service that is important for those customers who want to pre-emptively identify and eliminate the risks of drug abuse before they even become a problem”, our sales manager Miikka Karkela explains. “Knowing what those substances are and the quantities involved is extremely important for them”.

Although there is unfortunately a great need for drug testing services, few laboratories currently provide this resource. This scarcity is due to the fact that proper drug testing requires going through an intricate licensing process to obtain the necessary reference standards for the actual substances being investigated. Our environment testing in Lahti is unique in being the first commercial service in Finland to test for narcotics. Narcotic analysis was a natural addition for Eurofins, as we already test environmental samples for the presence of hormones and pharmaceuticals, and some pharmaceuticals are classed as narcotics.

“There are surprisingly few labs in Europe that can test for illegal and prescription drugs”, Karkela points out. “Licences are awarded to individuals, so many laboratories don’t even start the process. There are many companies around the world who have been waiting for a service like this, so it’s great to have the capability for this kind of testing right here in Finland”.

Testing for targeted drugs is a strictly controlled procedure

“When testing for narcotics, the most important thing is to respect people’s privacy by maintaining anonymity”, Karkela adds. “This means that individual people or groups cannot be identified from the tests”.

In Finland, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) tests for the presence of narcotic substances in wastewater from central treatment plants. These tests provide public information on regional drug use and any changes that may occur. Eurofins offers a similar service, except it is specifically intended for private companies.

We test for the following substances:

Alprazolam
Amphetamines
Benzoylecgonine
Dextropropoxyphene
Diazepam
EDDP (methadone metabolite)
Fentanyl
Flunitrazepam
Heroin
Cannabidiol (CBD)
Cannabinodiol (CBND)
Codeine
Cocaine
MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
Methamphetamine
Metanodes
Morphine
Oxazepam
Temazepam
THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol)
THC-COOH (11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol)
Tramadol
Zolpidem
α-PVP (α-pyrrolidinevalerophenone)

In addition to drug testing services, our environment testing department also offers extensive environmental expert services and Finland's largest network of environmental sampling. Read more about our water analysis services or get in touch!