Thread: Home Test - Line or infamous Ghost Line?

Possible Preemployment UA coming this week or next. I have been clean for 18 days. I am 5'9, 205, about 15 lbs overweight. Slow to medium metabolism and my job and commute don't leave much time for exercise. Before that I was toking about a gram a week, for the last year or so. I would make it last, small bowls lol.

I home tested yesterday morning with my first void of the day. I got a very very faint line. Wondering if I should be thinking about a mild dilution effort.

If the test is next week, I will home test again tomorrow or friday to see if there is any evidence of a darker line.

Knowing what you all know, is this a line or ghost line?

That test result in the pic is a negative. A faint line is still a line. Even synthetic urine controls (which contain no drug metabolites at all) can produce a faint line on an assay.

If the test is next week, I will home test again tomorrow or friday to see if there is any evidence of a darker line.

A good idea but dont fret over the intensity of the line. Again, a faint line is still a line. If you test negative again using the first urination, youre good to go.

Thanks Burnt Toast - I appreciate the support.

If I can play devil's advocate, because I know nothing about the lab or employees - let me throw this out there:

If a lab tech looks at their test, is it possible they don't look at the test closely enough to discern line? Or would it be possible that it is faint enough to be mistaken for not being a line, and having it sent for further testing? I believe the test is for the 50 n/g usual cut off.

I guess my question is if it gets set to the gc/ms - are the standards lower? I read on some forums that the gc/ms tests are automatically tested at 20 n/g, not sure if that is true or not.

My concerns are all but alleviated, thanks.

The GC/MS cutoff limit is 15 ng, but dont let this worry you. Even though their cutoffs numerically differ, a 50 ng Imnmunoassay is functionally equivalent to the 15 ng GC/MS. Their cutoffs numerically differ because the 50 ng I/A, being a non-selective methodology, recognizes all 31 metabolite concentrations combined while the GC/MS, a selective and more accurate methodology, recognizes only one metabolite concentration (THC-COOH).

THC enters the body in its ingested form, metabolized by the body, and exits the body as 31 different metabolite concentrations. The most prevalent of these 31 metabolite concentrations is the THC-COOH metabolite concentration.
In order to test negative on the I/A, the whole combination of the 31 metabolite concentrations must register below 50 ng.
In order to test negative on the GC/MS, only that one metabolite concentration (THC-COOH) must register below 15 ng. The cutoff has to be set at a lower numerical value to make the two types of tests functionally equivalent.

Thanks! That is awesome feedback. Overall, I am not as concerned as I was. Even if the tech deems my sample merits further testing, it doesn't sound like there is much for me to worry about.

It also looks like the test is not going to happen this week. And when notified of the test, I have 48 hours to complete, so time is on my side. This saturday will be 21 days clean, and if I am already testing negative with my first void in the morning, it seems like I have nothing to fear.

So why am I still a little nervous? Hhehe I can't wait until this is over with, a nice big stress relieving bowl is in order!

The test is for AT&T, and the lab is Concentra. I am glad I didn't decide to sub, I have read that Concentra is cracking down on QF 5.7.

I have read that Concentra is cracking down on QF 5.7.

In what manner?

Please elaborate..

explain why hes negative. it clearly states even the faintest line is a positive sample. i know a good buddy of mine who wasted $100 in one night one those things just to see if the faint line would go away and it didnt. after hours of debate, he said f*** it and gave a sample. sure enough POSITIVE! sent back to the halfway house for remainder of his probation.

Originally Posted by ogganjagrower

explain why hes negative.

What is there to explain as to why synthetic urine controls can produce faint lines on an assay and score a 0 ng/ml reading on the confirmation GC/MS test? A negative is a negative.

Originally Posted by ogganjagrower

it clearly states even the faintest line is a positive sample.

What brand of kit did you see this (without posting commercial links)?

at home drug test (marijuana). not sure of the brand name but its the ones that are for sale in walgreens. all i know is from the looks of his picture thats a positive test. it has a super faint line, but yet still noticeable. and in the booklet, it states that that would be a positive test result

Originally Posted by Burnt Toast

In what manner?

Please elaborate..

Well again, I have no basis for this viewpoint since I have not used QF 5.7, but just by reading other boards about it, there are more than a few posts about Concentra failing people who used it. The tests seem to point to the lack of uric acid and other non human qualities. I guess there are cases where the uric acid including in the kit did not fool Concentra. Three years ago, I used 4.0 with success, so my own experiences with the product are good.

I just do not want to risk it personally. Even if there is a shadow of a doubt about whether it will pass, I cannot risk it personally. And I am little mortified by users reporting that it didnt pass.

That's not very reassuring. How come everyone else in these boards says that a line, no matter how faint is a negative??

Well here you seem to say that it is a faint line, but still noticeable... I am confused, so even with a line, as dictated in these home tests, is a negative for these thc tests, or are you saying I would fail an actual test.

Another question, why are we measuring the first void of the day? I certainly wouldn't be giving the tester my first void, it would probably be late in the afternoon. If a test late in the day shows a line, what would prompt a CS/GC test at that point?

i thought i posted it, but what do the directions say.....most say if there is a line then it is a negative....thats from my experience at my local pharmacy. i think that your picture shows a negative.

Morning-
I'm trying to nail this down and you seem like most knowledgeable cobber. Hope you don't mind a little early AM brain pick!
I use a test strip which indicates that a negative on the strip means I'm below 25n/ml concentration (per the insert that came with the strips). Assuming probation is a zero tolerance environment, is this good enough? I don't know whether I/A or GC/MS, nor do I know cut-off used by lab (BI). Bet my P.O. won't share!
Help?