How long thc detected in urine

Its metabolites may remain in the bloodstream for days. According to a review on cannabinoids in oral fluid, weed is detectable in saliva for the following amounts of time after last use:. Weed can enter the saliva through smoking and exposure to smoke. However, its metabolites are only present in saliva when weed has been smoked or ingested. Hair follicle tests assess drug use for up to 90 days. After use, weed reaches the hair follicles via small blood vessels.

Trace amounts may remain in the hair. Since hair grows approximately 0. The active ingredient in weed is a chemical substance called THC, which stands for deltatetrahydrocannabinol. THC that enters your body is absorbed into the bloodstream. Some THC is temporarily stored in organs and fatty tissues. In the kidneys, THC can be reabsorbed into the bloodstream.

THC is broken down in the liver. Drug tests look for these metabolites, which stay in your body longer than THC. Eventually, THC and its metabolites are excreted in urine and stool. A number of factors affect how long weed stays in your system. Other factors are related to weed and how you use it. This includes how much you take dose and how often frequency. Higher doses and more frequent use tend to increase the amount of time it takes to eliminate weed from your system.

While some places may test on-site for instant results, many send the specimen out so that an official report can be made. While more expensive, a hair test for marijuana hair follicle drug test can identify drug use up to 90 days. Metabolites of the drug may be found in the hair one week after a person uses the drug. Though not as common as a urine test, in certain cases a person may be asked or required to take a blood test to detect marijuana.

A blood test may point to marijuana use in a matter of minutes after a person uses the drug. However, some research shows that it may be detected for up to 25 days. Providers may prefer other tests due to the invasive nature of this type of testing.

In addition to these tests, there are other tests that screen for marijuana use:. Saliva tests can only detect marijuana for up to 24 hours. Using breath sprays, mouthwash or another type of oral rinse that contains alcohol could potentially affect the results if used within 30 minutes prior to the sample being collected. A sweat test can detect marijuana for one to two weeks. To test sweat, a patch is typically placed on the skin.

The FDA-approved patch remains on the skin for three to seven days before it is sent to a lab for testing. Skin swabs are available, however, there is doubt regarding their level of accuracy. Research is currently underway to develop reliable roadside or DUI tests that detect recent marijuana use or intoxication. A marijuana breathalyzer that tests for THC is reported to detect this active compound in as little as two hours after a person last smoked pot.

Studies are also examining saliva tests and how they could be used to detect edible marijuana consumption. Pregnant women use marijuana more than any other illicit drug. In situations where the use or abuse is suspected, tests may be administered to test for marijuana exposure in a newborn.

These include:. Drugs such as alcohol may completely disappear from the body in just a few hours. In comparison, weed lingers much longer. Drug tests can detect tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in urine, blood, and hair for many days after use, while saliva tests can only detect THC for a few hours.

This is because of the way the body metabolizes THC. THC is a lipid-soluble chemical. This means that it binds to fat in the body , which increases the length of time it takes for someone to eliminate THC completely. Research on the amount of time a test can detect marijuana shows a wide range of averages. Research from estimates a detection window for a single marijuana cigarette of about 3 days.

Detection windows also depend on the kind of test a person undertakes. General estimates for various marijuana tests are as follows:. Drug tests can detect relatively small quantities of THC, and the amount of THC in a given marijuana cigarette varies.

However, little research has examined exactly how much a person must smoke to fail a drug test. Studies consistently find that frequent weed users are more likely to fail drug tests than infrequent users. A study in the journal Clinical Chemistry examines marijuana users smoking a single cigarette with 6.

Urine concentrations of THC were highest 0. Using a highly sensitive urine test, researchers detected THC in the urine of percent of frequent users and 60— percent of infrequent users. A study reports on testing where hair samples from marijuana users reporting heavy, light, or no use of marijuana. For the study, researchers cut hair into 1-centimeter sections to test for exposure of up to a month prior. When you smoke, vape, or otherwise ingest weed, THC is broken down into several by-products that are stored in various body parts including body fat, the brain, and the heart.

Over time, the byproducts stored in the body are released back into the bloodstream where they're then excreted in urine; but chronic, daily smokers can have a THC build-up that accumulates faster than it can be eliminated. Weed usage can generally be divided into three categories :. Marijuana drug tests measure the presence of either THC or THC by-products in your bodily fluids or hair, but how long after consumption a test can detect them depends on the specific type of test:.

Urine testing is the most common drug testing method. THC byproducts can be detected in urine for the following amounts of time :. THC content in blood quickly peaks within the first few minutes of smoking weed and then declines within an hour. But if you consume your weed in edible form, you can expect your blood THC content to peak around 3 hours after consumption. However, studies show some frequent marijuana users' blood will test positive even after seven days of abstinence.

Saliva testing is common in workplaces and uses a swab placed between the lower cheek and gum. Saliva tests can detect marijuana for up to 24 hours after last consumption in infrequent cannabis users, and up to 30 hours in regular and chronic users.

Hair follicle testing has the longest detection window, or the period weed can be detected after last use. Hair follicle tests can detect weed for up to 90 days after last consumption , for most users.