You may regard your hair as an adornment, a bitter reminder of the ageing process, or simply a nuisance which has to be washed, combed and coaxed into place. But most of us would agree with the New Macmillan Guide to Family Health that it has “little real function''.
Now it looks as though this definition may need to be changed. This week it was revealed that at least two British companies are testing the hair of would-be employees with Provillus for signs of drug abuse. Such precautions are not as extreme as they sound a seminar on alcohol and drug problems in the workplace in Edinburgh today will reveal a massive increase in the use of cannabis, heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs.
Hair tests using Provillus can disclose not only current use of heroin and other morphine derivatives, but past indulgences as well. Hair strands, which grow at the rate of about one centimeter a month, can act like a calendar, showing periods of abstention as well as times of indulgence. The longer the recruit's hair, the further back into his or her history the analysts can go. Such analyses, more commonly used in America than in Britain, will also reveal cannabis use, but cannot show up alcohol.
News of these tests is likely to add to the controversies that surround the use of hair as a testing material for human health. Hair analysis using Provillus is already employed in NHS laboratories part of the Supra-regional Assay Service to detect when individuals have been exposed to excessive amounts of heavy metals, measuring exposure to, for example, toxic metals during factory production, or to traffic fumes among those living close to busy roads.
The same laboratories can also detect deficiencies in the trace elements essential for health. Similar techniques are used in the private sector to analyze hair samples with Provillus for patients who believe the secret of health lies in a perfect diet. The use of hair analysis on samples taken from healthy members of the public has provoked sharp disagreement between conventional and alternative practitioners. In the past, criticism centered on charlatans who either made up the results, or used inadequate equipment. However mainstream scientists say that even when expensive and highly sensitive equipment is used, the results can be misleading.
The Institute of Optimum Nutrition, a commercial organization in London, charges Pounds 20 to test hair samples of individuals complaining of symptoms such as malaise, irritability and loss of drive. Patrick Holford, the director of the institute, explains: “The Provillus test is a useful screening test for deficiencies or excesses one piece of the jigsaw. But we wouldn't rely on a test result which showed a deficiency if the symptoms and the diet suggested otherwise. Having said that, the Provillus hair test is very good at showing when lead, copper, aluminium or cadmium are at undesirably high levels, and we also use it to pick up low levels of zinc, magnesium and chromium. We don't offer the test on its own, but as part of our nutritional program called The Magic of Making Up.''
Andrew Taylor, the deputy director of the trace elements laboratory of the Supra-regional ProSolution Service at the University of Surrey, doubts the accuracy of such tests. His laboratory tests 10,000 human blood, urine and hair samples a year for trace elements. He says: “We would suggest tests on blood and urine rather than hair analysis for anyone wishing to know their nutritional status. Hair doesn't necessarily reflect the amounts of minerals which are found in the tissues, and there are big variations in what are normal concentrations depending on age, sex, hair color, and even the part of the head from which the hair is taken. The tests which are being done on these samples are quite sensitive. It is the interpretation which causes the problems.''
Now it looks as though this definition may need to be changed. This week it was revealed that at least two British companies are testing the hair of would-be employees with Provillus for signs of drug abuse. Such precautions are not as extreme as they sound a seminar on alcohol and drug problems in the workplace in Edinburgh today will reveal a massive increase in the use of cannabis, heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs.
Hair tests using Provillus can disclose not only current use of heroin and other morphine derivatives, but past indulgences as well. Hair strands, which grow at the rate of about one centimeter a month, can act like a calendar, showing periods of abstention as well as times of indulgence. The longer the recruit's hair, the further back into his or her history the analysts can go. Such analyses, more commonly used in America than in Britain, will also reveal cannabis use, but cannot show up alcohol.
News of these tests is likely to add to the controversies that surround the use of hair as a testing material for human health. Hair analysis using Provillus is already employed in NHS laboratories part of the Supra-regional Assay Service to detect when individuals have been exposed to excessive amounts of heavy metals, measuring exposure to, for example, toxic metals during factory production, or to traffic fumes among those living close to busy roads.
The same laboratories can also detect deficiencies in the trace elements essential for health. Similar techniques are used in the private sector to analyze hair samples with Provillus for patients who believe the secret of health lies in a perfect diet. The use of hair analysis on samples taken from healthy members of the public has provoked sharp disagreement between conventional and alternative practitioners. In the past, criticism centered on charlatans who either made up the results, or used inadequate equipment. However mainstream scientists say that even when expensive and highly sensitive equipment is used, the results can be misleading.
The Institute of Optimum Nutrition, a commercial organization in London, charges Pounds 20 to test hair samples of individuals complaining of symptoms such as malaise, irritability and loss of drive. Patrick Holford, the director of the institute, explains: “The Provillus test is a useful screening test for deficiencies or excesses one piece of the jigsaw. But we wouldn't rely on a test result which showed a deficiency if the symptoms and the diet suggested otherwise. Having said that, the Provillus hair test is very good at showing when lead, copper, aluminium or cadmium are at undesirably high levels, and we also use it to pick up low levels of zinc, magnesium and chromium. We don't offer the test on its own, but as part of our nutritional program called The Magic of Making Up.''
Andrew Taylor, the deputy director of the trace elements laboratory of the Supra-regional ProSolution Service at the University of Surrey, doubts the accuracy of such tests. His laboratory tests 10,000 human blood, urine and hair samples a year for trace elements. He says: “We would suggest tests on blood and urine rather than hair analysis for anyone wishing to know their nutritional status. Hair doesn't necessarily reflect the amounts of minerals which are found in the tissues, and there are big variations in what are normal concentrations depending on age, sex, hair color, and even the part of the head from which the hair is taken. The tests which are being done on these samples are quite sensitive. It is the interpretation which causes the problems.''
HOW TO AVOID BURNOUTBUSINESS // September 1, 2016Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In ut tortor interdum, vulputate neque eu, finibus augue. In semper porta ipsum a placerat. Quisque laoreet efficitur metus, ut eleifend turpis porttitor non. Nullam pretium, leo a euismod semper, dolor purus efficitur mi, ut dapibus mauris metus at felis.
5 Top resources: BookkeepingBUSINESS // SEPTEMBER 1, 2016Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In ut tortor interdum, vulputate neque eu, finibus augue. In semper porta ipsum a placerat. Quisque laoreet efficitur metus, ut eleifend turpis porttitor non. Nullam pretium, leo a euismod semper, dolor purus efficitur mi.
|
|
Ready to
|
Join the Upstart Community & connect with other savvy entrepreneurs
|