Would placing the collection pad in the mouth for a fixed amount of time suffice for adequate collection?
No! This is method will not guarantee adequate collection and would violate SAMHSA guidelines. There is a great variation in salivary flow within the general population. Consequently, a fixed collection time would result in collection of variable sample volumes, the use of variable sample volumes in a test and an inability to determine whether the test result was truly positive or negative in accordance with SAMHSA. Only a volume adequacy indicator ensures adequate saliva collection. It is particularly important when saliva is to be collected from individuals with dry mouth syndrome or from individuals who have a vested interest in beating the test. Individuals in the former group will provide insufficient saliva when fixed short collection times are used while individuals in the latter group attempt to repeatedly swallow their saliva to reduce the amount going into the test and thus the test shows a false negative. Our studies with 322 first time users of the quantisal collector showe
