What Are the Prerequisites to Account for “No Fault” in Doping Control after an Adverse Analytical Finding Possibly due to Drug Contamination? Perspective from a Hair Testing Analyst
Pascal Kintz
Abstract
Sir, In 2013, the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Sir Craig Reedie, wished for new approaches other than urine and blood in doping control. Indeed, he declared that hair testing “will create tremendous opportunities for advances in anti-doping and allow our scientists to look at alternative approaches to sample testing for banned substances” (1). Although hair is not a valid specimen for the International Olympic Committee or the WADA, its use as a specimen of investigation is accepted in most courts of justice in the world. Hair testing is a useful measure of drug intake of an individual, in any situation in which a history of the past rather than recent drug use is expected, as it reflects consumption over a long period of time. For practical purposes, it is commonly accepted that each centimeter of head hair represents the growth, and therefore drug accumulation, for...