We recently had a donor come into our clinic that let us know he had to use the restroom NOW. There were a few customers ahead of him in line, so we allowed him to use the employee restroom. A few minutes later, it was his turn to urinate for the drug test. He mentioned to the collector that he REALLY needed to use the restroom even though he had urinated only a few minutes before. The collector asked him to fill the cup to the top. The donor not only filled the cup to the top but continued to urinate in the toilet for another minute or so. This gentleman was very hydrated, having urinated twice in 10 minutes.

He handed the collector of a cup of urine that looked like water. The temperature was spot on, and the collector was certain that this was a good specimen. One common way that people will try to pass a drug test is to dilute their specimen. Drug users know that it’s difficult (but not impossible) for a lab to detect drugs in a specimen that has been diluted. Drinking lots and lots of fluids is the best way to do this. Jokingly, the collector told the donor “Looks like you studied for this test.” The donor responded and said, “I can’t tell you all of my secrets.”

This piqued the collector’s interest, and he got the donor to spill the beans. According to the donor, he had mixed powdered jell-o with a LOT of Gatorade and drank it in order to pass his drug test. He claimed to have smoked marijuana the night before the test. According to the donor, this concoction of jell-o and Gatorade thwarted the test. We know better than that. Chances are that the jell-o had nothing to do with him passing the test… It was the copious amounts of Gatorade he consumed which diluted his urine.

A lab has criteria to determine if a specimen is dilute and will include that on the drug test report they issue. Most employers accept negative dilute drug tests. Although some employers will make these folks take their drug test again and will not hire them if it comes back dilute a second time. This is not the case for DOT testing. Employers who have DOT employees either must accept ALL negative dilute tests or retest all negative dilute tests. If they choose to retest negative dilutes and any of them report negative dilute a second time, they MUST accept it as a negative result. Click here for an article First Choice wrote that gives some advice regarding how an employer might handle negative dilute specimens. If you’re still confused about dilutes or any other part of your testing program call First Choice Drug Testing, we have the expertise and experience to help you wade through all the ins and outs of drug testing.