Specimen Requirements

Preferred: Urine should be collected in a clean and dry container. A first morning urine is preferred however, a random specimen may be used. Urine specimens exhibiting visible precipitates should be centrifuged prior to testing.

Specimen Volume: 0.2 mL of urine

Stability: Samples may be stored up to 48 hours at 2-8º C, or frozen for prolonged storage.  Thawed samples should be mixed before testing.
Collection Instructions: 
Note: 1. This assay provides only a preliminary analytical test result.  Clinical consideration and professional judgement should be applied to any drug of abuse test result, particularly when preliminary positive results are indicated.  Should a more specific chemical method be requested, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), is the preferred confirmatory method.

2. It is possible that technical or procedural errors, as well as other interfering substances in the urine specimen may cause erroneous results.

3. Adulterants, such as bleach and/or alum, in urine specimens may produce erroneous results regardless of the analytical method used.  If adulteration is suspected, the test should be repeated with another urine specimen.

4. Varying ranges of pH DO NOT interfere with the performance of this test.

5. A positive result indicates only that the presences of cotinine is above the cut-off concentration.  It does not indicate or measure level of consumption.