Morphological Changes in Human Head Hair Subjected to Various Drug Testing Decontamination Strategies

This study evaluated the morphological changes in human head hair subjected to various decontamination strategies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hair from five donors was treated with aqueous phosphate buffer, methanol, or methylene chloride. The results showed that methanol and methylene chloride caused modest lifting of cuticle scales, while aqueous buffer treatment led to substantial degradation or complete loss of cuticle scales. These findings indicated that different decontamination protocols have varied impacts on the hair cuticle, which could affect the removal of drug contamination and the interpretation of drug testing results.