As for drug testing, a false positive is identified in the case when a drug free sample incorrectly being marked as positive for any drugs. This situation can happen because of different causes, for example, a person has had passive inhalation, or this can happen because of improper laboratory process or wrong paperwork and etc. However, cross reactants (a stuff which on account of its alike chemical structure to either a drug or its metabolite can be a reason of false positive outcomes) are the most widespread reason of false positives drug testing. A cross reactant is.
The mentioned below substances can be a reason of cross reactivity if a person is tested with an Immunoassay screen. Nevertheless, there won’t be any mistakes if Gas Chromatography or so called Mass Spectrometry test is used:
Anti-depressants
Excluding when this group of drugs is purposely tested for. Some of them together with amitriptyline can be tested positive for opiates even in three days after it was used. What’s more, quinine in tonic water can as well be a reason of a positive test for opiates.
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen which is a widespread anti-inflammatory and pain reliever even in low doses can be a reason of a false positive for marijuana or cannabis when the EMIT test is used. Though the EMIT has been transformed to use a dissimilar enzyme to get rid of false positives, recent facts have shown that Ibuprofen used in high doses, in conjunction with other anti-inflammatories, for example, Naproxen make false positives in the EMIT test (Hair Drug Test).