Tobacco smoking test. Taking a smoking test

In a smoking test, cotinine is detected in the body. Cotinine remains in the body for about 7 days, while nicotine is eliminated very quickly. This article will show you how to prepare for this test and possibly quit smoking altogether if you decide to quit. bad habit.

Steps

Part 1

Find out if it is legal to ask you to take such a test. In the US, the smoking test is banned only in one state - South Carolina. More than half of the states have a provision prohibiting employers from punishing activities outside of working hours, including smoking. If you live in one of the 29 states that have this provision, you do not need to take this test.

• to find out if it is legal to test smoking in each state.

1. Understand what this testing is. A "smoking test" usually comes down to the detection of cotinine in the body. To do this, take a swab from oral cavity, urine and blood test. Cotinine is the main metabolite of nicotine. Nicotine is eliminated from the body in a few hours, while for cotinine, the half-life lasts longer, in the body it lasts up to 7 days.

   • The half-life of cotinine is 16 hours. This means that a small amount is excreted from the body approximately every 16 hours. If you are not a heavy smoker, then most of cotinine should disappear after 48 hours. It depends on the number of cigarettes smoked, but still a small amount of cotinine remains in the mouth, which will be detected on a smear.
   • Tests detect cotinine not only from smoking, but also from the use of other tobacco products, as well as smokeless tobacco, including vaporizer pens and other electronic cigarettes.

2. Stop using any tobacco products 5-7 days before the test. It is impossible to say for sure exactly how long it will take to completely clear, but not heavy smokers should stop using nicotine 3-4 days before the test, but heavy smokers should stop using nicotine 5-7 days. This will ensure that the test result is negative. If you want to quit smoking in a week or more, read the next section.

   • If you smoke more than one pack a day, then you need to stop smoking well in advance. The sooner you can stop, the more reliable it will be.
   • If you are a social smoker or smoker occasionally, it will be enough to abstain from smoking for a few days before the test.

3. Cleanse your body with diuretics. If you are due to have a urinalysis in the coming days, drink as much fluids as possible throughout the day.

   • Drink plain filtered water. To constantly cleanse the body, drink at least two liters per day.
   • Drink warm water with a little lemon, garlic, leek, or ginger. This will help cleanse the body and remove all excess.
   • Drink plenty of herbal tea with ginger, dandelion root, and juniper. These plants have natural diuretic properties.
   • Drink plenty of natural cranberry juice. Most of the producers of cranberry drinks write "Cranberry" on their products, but in reality there is very little cranberry juice there, but a lot of sugar and apples. If you want maximum diuretic effect, try to find pure, natural cranberry juice.

4. Don't overspend on detox drinks. In specialty stores, you will find many different high-value drinks to ensure that you pass any smoking and drug test with them. In this case, you can smoke until the test itself. However, check out their composition. Most often, high-value drinks are a combination of fruit juices and electrolytes. From them not more usethan from cheaper or even free drinks. Think it might not be worth overpaying.

   Write it off as secondhand smoke. If your test reveals a small amount of cotinine, try to explain it by secondhand smoke in a smoke-filled bar, during a rehearsal, or any other meeting where people smoke a lot. Just be careful that this does not contradict the data you provided before passing the test.

   • To get reliable results, many smoking tests are done in the workplace. If you are found to have a small amount of cotinine, then this explanation would seem plausible.
   • If you smoked on the day of the test, the amount of cotinine will be much higher. In this case, it will not be possible to write off everything on secondhand smoke. You must stop smoking at least a few days before the test.

Part 2

1. Try to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke. If you know the scheduled test date, set a goal to smoke less. This will make it easier for you to stop smoking one week before the test. If you gradually start smoking fewer and fewer cigarettes two weeks before the test, it will be easier for your body to stop using them before the test. Perhaps this will help you quit smoking altogether.

   • Try to halve your tobacco or tobacco consumption each day. As soon as you know about the test, start smoking less immediately.
   • If you find out that the test will not be carried out soon, then use chewing gum or nicotine patches to start combating psychological addiction as soon as possible.

2. Learn to put off smoking for ten minutes. If you want to smoke, be patient a little. Do not immediately follow your desire. Keep yourself busy for ten minutes. During this time, the desire may weaken. After ten minutes, consider if you really still want to smoke.

   • If you are trying to quit this bad habit, then gradually increase the length of time you abstain from smoking. The more you suppress this desire, the easier it will be for you to cope with it.

3. Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms. If you use tobacco in moderation or large quantities, then suddenly quit it, be prepared for the appearance of physical and psychological symptoms cancellation. These symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, and headaches. Their severity depends on the number of cigarettes smoked.

   • The most difficult thing is to endure the first three days. Common symptoms include anxiety, headaches, and insomnia. The main thing is to endure these three days, then it will be easier.
   • Unfortunately, the week before the test, you will not be able to use nicotine patches, lozenges or other substitutes, because the test will still show that there is cotinine in the body. Before the test, you need to stop using any nicotine.

4. During this period of time, avoid anything that you associate with smoking. If you are in the habit of smoking a cigarette over a cup of coffee or during a break from work, then it is important to prepare in advance for the fact that you will have to face such situations and make a plan of action how to avoid them or how to replace them. Try experimenting: drink tea instead of coffee, and go jogging during the break.

In the US, many employers and insurance companies ask people to take a nicotine test. However, they make no distinction as to where this nicotine comes from: from cigarettes, society-approved patches, or from other sources. There is no such practice in Russia. However, we found it interesting to find out how long nicotine remains in the human body and how it can be detected. This knowledge can be useful for parents who want to make sure that their child does not smoke.

Of course, there are tests to identify nicotine itself, but it disappears from the body quickly enough - and after 3 days it will not be detected. Once in the body, nicotine is metabolized in the liver to cotinine, the half-life of which is 20 hours, and it is found in the body for another week in quantities proportional to the amount of received nicotine.

However, other factors also affect blood cotinine levels. For example, people who prefer menthol cigarettes last longer than those who smoke regular cigarettes. The racial and gender identity of a person also affects. In addition, the use of certain foods, secondhand smoke, and anti-smoking programs that use drugs with nicotine, lead to the fact that cotinine can be found in the blood of a person. This means that such tests for its content cannot be considered absolute proof of whether a person smokes or not.

How to detect nicotine?

There are several ways to detect nicotine in the body, since it is found not only in the blood, but also in hair, urine, etc.

Blood test

There are several test options for detecting nicotine, but the most accurate is a blood test. At the same time, it is quite expensive. Blood sampling for analysis must be carried out by a specially trained person, which complicates the process.

There are 2 options: a simplified one, which indicates only the presence or absence of nicotine or cotinine in the blood, and a refined one, which indicates the level of the nicotine metabolite.

Saliva analysis

Due to the fact that the smoking process is carried out through the mouth, the level of nicotine in saliva is higher than in the blood (by about 30%). However, the main advantage of this method is still the simplicity and painlessness of sampling, for which you just need to run a cotton swab along the inside of the cheek and send it in an airtight container to the laboratory.

Since nicotine is excreted from the body in urine, it contains the most of it: 6 times more than in saliva and, accordingly, 8 times more than in blood, which makes urine the best sample for analysis.

The test is carried out using a special indicator strip. It is moistened and checked for discoloration, by which it is judged whether there is cotinine in the urine or not.

Hair analysis

The most reliable, but at the same time the most expensive, time consuming and difficult is hair analysis. It is used when the results of other tests are in doubt. This is because cotinine can remain in the hair for up to 3 months.

How to cleanse the body of nicotine

If for some reason you need to take a test for nicotine content or you just want to cleanse your body of it, then, of course, first of all you need to exclude its consumption, for example, switch to liquid for electronic cigarettes with a concentration of 0 mg / ml.

If you smoke, you will have to stop smoking 2-3 weeks before the test. You can also speed up the process by consuming large amounts of vitamin C, which is a great antioxidant and speeds up the metabolism of nicotine. In addition, by increasing your water intake and physical exercise, you will accelerate the elimination of metabolic products from the body, including cotinine. But in any case, it will take you some time to achieve the goal, because there is no way to quickly cleanse the body of nicotine.

Almost every second person smokes cigarettes. Smoking not only leads to strong addiction, but also kills health. Cigarettes especially harm teenagers. Because of this, many parents want to know if their child smokes. Today there is a rapid test that makes it easy to find out about negative habits.

The smoking test is conducted not only for children, but also for employees of some companies.

About the problem

Nicotine hits everything internal organs, after which various pathologies develop and even oncological diseases... According to statistics, teenage smoking is among the most global problems modernity. Every year the age of children at which they start smoking decreases. Children start to spoil their health at the age of 7-10 years, and by the age of 14-16 they become heavy smokers.

Causes of a bad habit

Tobacco smoking is a problem not only for children from disadvantaged families, but also for those who live in socially stable families.

The main reasons for starting smoking are the following factors:

• communication problems;
• stress;
• growing up and adolescent age;
• imitation of idols and heroes of TV screens;
• mental disorder;
• imitation of parents and older friends;
• difficult family situation;
• moving, new school, dating, etc.

Possible consequences

If a person smokes to relieve stress, then after a while he will no longer be able to give up the addiction. Nicotine is a psychotropic poison of a neurotropic type. Carcinogens and toxins found in tobacco products, quickly kill the undeveloped body of a teenager. This affects the development of serious pathologies.

Smoking causes pathological changes in a teenager's body twice as fast as in an adult.

Nicotine causes the following health problems:

• muscle hypotension;
• euthyroidism of the heart muscle;
• hearing and vision impairment;
• retinal detachment;
• inflammation of the optic nerve;
• malfunctioning of the brain;
• malfunctions of the thyroid gland;
• pathology of the endocrine system organs;
• diseases of the genitourinary, respiratory, nervous, digestive and cardiac systems.

Nicotine damages the brain and is very dangerous for a teenager. To reduce the risk of disease, teens need to quit smoking.

Features of the express test

To identify the problem and quickly accept necessary measures, scientists have developed a test to determine the smoker. This is an immunochromatographic assay. It is easy to do it yourself without the help of outsiders. The test will accurately determine the presence of metabolites in the human body. This is a test strip that is placed in the urine of the person to be tested for 30-60 seconds. The test can be purchased at any pharmacy.

Principle of operation

The test is necessary to find in the urine of a child or adult for the presence of nicotine and cotinine (an alkaloid that is found in tobacco and belongs to decay elements). An alkaloid is present in the body of a person who smokes long time... Cotinine is destroyed within 8-40 hours, and nicotine - 30-50 minutes. If the urine contains cotinine, the test is positive.

Cotinine has one feature - it does not obey the influence external factors and manifests itself as a consequence of nicotine, so the particles of the substance are taken as a coefficient that is displayed on the indicator.

Mode of application

In order for the use of the test to show the most accurate result, it is necessary to observe certain conditions during its implementation.

The urine is warmed to room temperature before use, and the test is also heated.

• The urine collection utensils are disinfected.
• The required amount of urine is 1.5-2 ml.
• The test strip is lowered to the marked point for 30-60 seconds.
• Then the strip is transferred to a clean surface and wait 5-6 minutes.
• Then you can evaluate the result.

How to evaluate the result of a nicotine addiction test:

1. If one line of pink color appears in the control part, then there are cotinine particles in the urine and the result is positive.
2. If two lines of any color are formed in the control part, then there is no cotinine, the result is negative.

Erroneous results

According to some reviews, the result may be wrong. So the test can show one bar behind the control line. This happens if the teenager is a passive smoker: in his family, parents smoke at least one or two packs of cigarettes a day.

Rapid test cheating

Some teenagers have been able to cheat the cigarette smoking test. It works like this:

• replace your material with one taken from a non-smoker;
• dilute urine with whiteness, liquid powder or detergent - such means can change chemical composition urine, and then the test will give an incorrect result.

So that the child does not cheat, parents should follow the analysis procedure. If the test is negative, and the parents still have doubts, additional laboratory research... To do this, you need to go to a specialized clinic and get tested.

E-cigarette smoker test

Smokers are also tested for those who use electronic cigarettes. The test will be accurate if the teen has used nicotine blends to vape. If nicotine-free mixtures were used, then the test will show a negative result.

Conclusion

The smoking test strip is a way to make sure that the teenager has not started using tobacco and leads healthy image life. Smoking is dangerous to health and causes many serious pathologies. Nicotine is especially harmful for adolescents, their risk of developing diseases increases several times.

How long after the last cigarette will a nicotine test be negative? and got the best answer

Answer from Andrey Vink [guru]
Are you all like that in Ufa? \u003d))
Mom and without a test will ignite, do not piss))
Source: hopefully it will flog too)

Answer from Nebuzyatka[guru]
Theoretically, how long nicotine is excreted is very individual. Have healthy people without kidney pathology - in a day or two, in patients and children longer - three to four days.
Cotinine is a breakdown product of nicotine and the main indicator of whether a person smokes is excreted from the body within a day and a half. Therefore, if a teenager manages to hold out this time without a cigarette, then the analysis may show a negative result. There are more sensitive tests, but these are no longer test strips that are offered in most clinics, but an immunochromatographic test that can track traces of cotinine a week after the last cigarette.
How much nicotine is excreted from the body
Can you tell me how much nicotine is excreted from the body? I tried smoking, my parents found out, my father said that he would lead some one for analysis. I'm afraid to even think about what will happen if the analysis is confirmed.
In general, it is difficult to predict how much nicotine is excreted from the body in each case. If your smoking was one-time, then the analysis may not show anything. If you smoke heavily, then a smoking marker can be found after a week.
Let's just clarify that it is not nicotine that is looked for in the analysis - it is excreted very quickly, literally in a couple of hours, and a special substance formed in the liver is cotinine. It is also called a specific marker of smoking - a non-smoker does not have cotinine in his urine, it is formed from nicotine that has entered the bloodstream from a smoked cigarette.

Answer from 3 answers[guru]

Hey! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: How long after the last cigarette will a nicotine test be negative?

The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approves a new procedure: now all Russian schoolchildren starting from the age of 10 will be tested annually for smoking.

Smoking testing is included in the list of mandatory procedures for the annual universal children's medical examination. The test is an exhaled carbon monoxide test and a blood carboxyhemoglobin test.

The compulsory medical insurance system provides funds in the amount of 35 billion rubles for preventive examinations of 26.7 million children. Thus, the examination of one child will cost the state 1.31 thousand rubles.

Doctors note that the Ministry of Health did not choose the most effective ways analyze children's organism for smoking. And representatives of education are convinced that such complex analyzes are not required to determine smokers at school, since teachers already know which of their wards is susceptible to a bad habit.

“The proposed methods for detecting children who smoke will provide information whose diagnostic value is highly questionable. Carboxyhemoglobin is an unstable compound. The level of carbon monoxide in the exhaled air will be increased only if the student smokes immediately before the measurement procedure, ”says Aleksey Shabashov, Chairman of the Board of the Healthy Regions Association, Ph.D.

According to him, the analysis of exhaled air is carried out using a device called "Smokilizer" or similar devices: the patient exhales into a special tube, and the flashing of the indicator lights on the device shows sensitivity - the proportion of positive test results in the presence of a detectable condition and specificity - the proportion of negative results - with absence. These indicators, according to the expert, are only a certain algorithm incorporated into the devices by their developers. There is no data on how many false positives or false negatives the tube gives. As for carboxyhemoglobin, it is difficult to detect if the patient has not smoked for several hours. According to Shabashov, more accurate data is provided by urine analysis to identify nicotine breakdown products. But even with positive results of such an analysis, it is impossible to say whether the child smoked himself or inhaled cigarette smoke as a passive smoker.

A schoolboy will blow into the device, a light will come on, and what does this mean? Perhaps he smoked himself before school, or perhaps his father smoked in the kitchen and in the car in the morning while driving the child to school. And a periodically smoking schoolboy, who finds out that he is waiting for an examination, can refrain from smoking for a couple of hours, - says the doctor.

According to Rosstat, about 44 million people smoke in Russia, including children and adolescents. About 400 thousand Russians die from diseases caused by tobacco use every year.