Infolink Offers New Drug Test

Los Angeles, CA, April 30, 2001—InfoLink Screening Services, Inc. has announced it will add a new drug-testing technology that relies on hair analysis to the urine testing products and services it currently offers. The service is made available through an alliance with Psychemedics Corporation covering special services and rates. Psychemedics pioneered development of the new system, patented it and is obtaining FDA clearance for each of the drug tests it employs. Psychemedics’ hair test screens for five categories of drugs of abuse including: marijuana, cocaine (as well as crack cocaine), opiates (heroin), methamphetamine (speed, uppers and ecstasy), and PCP (angel dust). Additional tests are also under development.

“InfoLink recognizes drug abuse as a primary threat to the environment of safety and productivity that good employers strive to create,” states Barry Nadell, President and CEO of InfoLink. “We are please to add Psychemedics’ hair-testing capabilities to our drug-testing arsenal which includes both on-site and off-site urine testing as well as education services for employers.”

Psychemedics claims several advantages for its system over urinalysis, the most common alternative. Collection of hair samples, for example, is non-intrusive and can easily be done in-house whereas urine testing is often done under the supervision of off-site laboratories.

The processing time for hair samples is faster than for urine tests. Most negative results are available within 24 hours with positive test results confirmed within 2-3 days. (All initial positives are confirmed using GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS.) InfoLink clients are notified by e-mail when the result of the hair test is available. Final reports are obtained by clients calling an 800 number, receiving a fax, or by reviewing the report in InfoLink’s secure Web site.

Perhaps the most exciting benefits offered by hair-based analysis are that it tracks a longer personal history for each individual and claims a substantially greater ability to detect drug use. Urine testing can normally detect drug use for only three days after ingestion, while hair testing will detect drug use during the previous ninety days.

Psychemedics has documented drug detection rates ranging from five to ten times greater than urine testing depending on the drugs involved. In one study conducted by a large manufacturing company, samples from 774 job applicants were tested using both urine testing and Psychemedics’ hair analysis. The Psychemedics test detected sixteen times more cocaine users than urine tests on the same applicants and six times as many total drug users.As the detection abilities of hair-based testing apply to a longer time period, short-term abstention will not elude the test as it does for urinalysis. Likewise, hair testing is not susceptible to substitution or adulteration of samples as urinalysis can be. Employees and schools throughout the US report that when those eligible for testing learn that hair testing (unlike urinalysis) cannot be foiled, the hair test serves as a very significant and cost-effective deterrent.

About InfoLink:

InfoLink is a nationwide provider of background screening, drug and alcohol testing programs and products, drug awareness training for employers, behavioral assessments and employment physicals. The company offers excellent service, fast turnaround of information, legal compliance and competitive pricing.

InfoLink developed it’s The HIRE Program Ò to provide the latest online technology allowing clients to request background searches, view reports in progress, view completed reports, print reports anytime or store reports online via InfoLink's secure Web site.

For more information on InfoLink call 818/800-990-HIRE (4473) or visit www.infolinkscreening.com.

About Psychemedics:

Psychemedics Corporation is the world’s leading laboratory for detecting the presence of drugs in human hair. Its client list includes over 1,800 corporations (Many in the Fortune 500) which use hair testing as part of their drug-free workplace programs. In addition, several of the world’s largest police departments as well as schools and Federal Reserve Banks rely on Psychemedics’ hair testing.

Psychemedics Corporation (AMEX-PMD), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the first internationally patented technology to analyze hair for drug abuse. The technology allows compilation of a personal drug history for a ninety-day period.

Psychemedics’ hair analysis has consistently proven more effective than urinalysis and other methods in correctly identifying drug abusers. When hair and urine test results were compared for a series of identical subjects, five to ten times as many drug abusers were identified with the Psychemedics hair test. This superior detection ability makes Psychemedics’ method the most efficient and cost effective method of drug testing available.