mine workers faking urine tests

Maybe the princesses didn,t like the last header, will try again.
Mineworkers are using fake urine to dupe workplace urine drug tests and mouthwash and lollies to beat saliva testing.

Laboratories Western Diagnostic and Path West claim one in every 200 workplace urine samples contained synthetic or dehydrated human urine.

The State Government's laboratory, ChemCentre, is investigating the synthetic substances following complaints from some mining companies.

Occupational health and safety manager of Focus Minerals, Curtis Jones, said some workers had been caught with fake urine.

He said the men had turned to the fakes, which sell online for as little as $4 a bottle, after learning of forthcoming urine tests that could have detected drugs used weeks before.

Mr Jones said some "extremely sophisticated" fakes came with special heat packs to regulate temperature, which was a key factor affecting whether they would pass the on-site test.

"A classic example at a neighbouring mine involved a worker who submitted a sample that was 42C," Mr Jones said.

"Clearly, that did not come out of his body."

South Australian-based online retailer Aussie Detox admits it sells the fakes to mining workers, but says it does not sell prosthetic penises that could be used to trick inspectors monitoring the process.

The fake penises, sold on foreign websites, include a valve to release synthetic urine from an attached pouch.

Mr Jones said saliva tests were more reliable because there was less chance of interference.

But research commissioned by the Australian Mines and Metals Association shows urine was more reliable and, unlike saliva, could reveal an infrequent, frequent or chronic drug user.

The research showed that saliva tests could not detect swallowed cannabis and often failed to pick up on smoked cannabis, even when the user was high.

It said users knew how to get around saliva tests as mouthwash could greatly reduce the oral cannabis content in saliva.

The research said lemon-flavoured sweets could alter the pH of saliva, affecting the amount of cocaine or methamphetamine in the mouth and potentially affecting detection at certain times.

It said saliva tests could not readily detect sedative benzodiazepines.
The AMMA said individual mine sites should choose their own testing method.