Announcement made as Children of Alcoholics Week draws attention to the millions of children affected by alcohol-dependant parents in the UK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 25, 2011 -- Concateno, Europe’s most experienced drug and alcohol testing provider, has launched a new combined hair testing service to detect chronic excessive alcohol use in adults.

This new service from Concateno’s specialist Child Protection division, TrichoTech, will analyse levels of two types of markers that help indicate chronic excessive alcohol use - Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs). Utilizing both tests, most commonly on a sample of hair that provides a three month historic profile, gives greater confidence when seeking to determine alcohol misuse – providing a broader picture for family law and social work professionals.

The launch comes as this year’s Children of Alcoholics Week (COAW) draws to a close, led by The National Association for Children of Alcoholics. It is estimated that more than 2.6 million children in the UK live with hazardous drinkers, 705,000 live with a dependent drinker, and more than 8 million people are affected by a family member’s alcohol use . COAW aims to raise awareness of the problems faced by children of alcohol-dependent parents and to let them know that there is support available.

There are a number of tests available for alcohol testing but a hair alcohol test supports evidence of chronic excess alcohol use over a timescale of months. The two markers, EtG and FAEE’s, are incorporated into the hair by different processes, so that when one marker may be impaired by hair treatments, for example, the other may still be visible, reportable and may help indicate chronic alcohol misuse.

Kevina Murray from Concateno TrichoTech’s child protection team, explained: “Considering the large variations in the relationship between ethanol dose and FAEE and EtG concentrations in hair, the combined use of both tests strengthens the picture provided by the results. This means that child protection professionals will have an opportunity for greater support when obtaining evidence for child protection cases.”

Concateno TrichoTech’s scientists recommend that FAEE and EtG detection should only be used as part of a range of supportive tests in the diagnosis of chronic excessive alcohol use along with blood sampling such as CDT (carbohydrate deficient transferrin) and LF (Liver Function) tests in addition to clinical assessments. Hair alcohol tests should not be used to demonstrate abstinence of alcohol consumption to a court. Other tests such as regular urine or breath testing for alcohol can also be used.

“Hair test results are just one part of the jigsaw – used in conjunction with other testing methods, they provide a useful means of detecting chronic excessive alcohol consumption in child protection casework,” commented Kevina. “Employed correctly, this information can enable better informed decisions to be made over the protection of children affected by parental substance misuse.”

Concateno TrichoTech gained ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for detecting EtG in hair - the only UK-based laboratory to achieve this UKAS accreditation. To date that quality marque remains unique to TrichoTech’s laboratories in Cardiff, Europe’s leading facility for analysing hair samples. Established in 1993, the laboratories currently carry out more than 250,000 tests on over 15,000 hair samples each year. In addition to its hair testing services, Concateno TrichoTech also provides expert witness reports and consultation and education and training for frontline child protection professionals.

Ends

For more information regarding Concateno, please contact:

Carrie Lowe / Lyndsay Scanlan

Telephone: +44 (0)1962 893 893

Mobile: +44 (0)7554 014 188

Email: carrie.lowe@concateno.com / lyndsay.scanlan@concateno.com

Graham Sievers Mobile: +44 (0)7813 706 759 graham.sievers@concateno.com

Concateno – global drug testing services

Informed testing for informed decisions, when it matters most

Concateno (www.concateno.com ) brings together Europe’s strongest and most experienced drug and alcohol testing organisations and over 60 years of collected expertise. It offers an unparalleled breadth of advisory services and testing capabilities – spanning laboratory, point of care tests and all sample types for any biological specimen, including urine, oral fluids, hair and sweat.

Concateno’s 400 employees perform and deliver more than 10 million tests annually, supported by a global network of 600 sample collection officers, trained in-house in chain-of-custody procedures. Together, they conduct testing for approximately 8,500 clients in 130 countries around the world across all industries, healthcare and government bodies.

Concateno’s dedicated divisions specialise in: Child Protection, Clinical Diagnostics, Criminal Justice, Employee Services, Healthcare and Maritime.

For more information please visit http://www.concateno.com/

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