Do Hospitals Check for Synthetic Urine? (4 Samples to Send)
Fake urine has become one of the most reliable and convenient methods for passing urine tests. Still, concerns may arise about whether the hospital labs can check if the urine sample you submit is real or synthetic.
As a diligent researcher who has extensively studied numerous research papers and consulted with professionals in the field of urine analysis, I have curated this informative article to address the question.
Here’s what I found.
Quick Summary
Hospitals check for synthetic urine by looking at temperature, chemical composition, and appearance.
Specific urine drug tests are used to find evidence of recreational drug use.
Temperature is one of the best indicators of fake urine samples.
What Do Hospitals Check in Urine?
Hospitals check for infections, pregnancy, and diseases through urinalysis and screen for drug use in urine.
Urine drug testing is mostly used to test for drugs such as alcohol, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids like methadone [1][2].
Can Labs Differentiate Real and Synthetic Urine?
Labs cannot differentiate real and synthetic urine since synthetic urine mimics real urine. Fake pee is an artificially synthesized substance that simulates human urine’s composition, chemical properties, and appearance [3].
Here’s what they do when you submit a sample:
1. Temperature
Temperature is taken within two minutes of submitting the sample. The lab technician will look at the temperature strip on the side of the cup you were given and record it. The machine will perform the analysis if it is an automated setup analysis.
The average human urine sample must be between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If it isn’t, it’s dismissed right away [4].
Therefore, fake urine must be kept warm and have a roughly estimated temperature of 98°F to convince the testing staff that the given specimen has been produced naturally and is authentic.
That’s why the best synthetic urine solutions to substitute for your own urine are the ones that come with quality heat sources like hand warmers, heat pads, or heat activator powder.
Validity checks will then be performed on the sample. This dipstick test is followed by a panel test to see how the panels respond. The panels check for nitrates and other contaminants, including adulterants [5].
Specimen validity testing is intended to analyze the urine sample’s physical and chemical characteristics and contrast them with typical human pee.
It checks whether the sample falls within the proper specific gravity and pH levels and the appropriate level of creatinine. The sample may be recognized as synthetic if it differs in any manner from typical human urine.
Drug testing laboratories might occasionally check for urea, uric acid, and other substances that most fake urine pass. Additionally, they claim that they search for biocide preservatives.
“Negative results in a dilute urine specimen may lead to misinterpretation of results. In situations where individuals attempt to evade detection of certain drug use, urinary substitution techniques and devices can be sophisticated and difficult to detect.”
– Mancia Ko, PharmD, MBA, Medical Science Liaison
3. Immunoassay
The sample undergoes an immunoassay if it passes validity testing. This is typically a panel test again to determine how the sample responds to the presence of particular medications.
4. Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry
The sample will go directly to a full gas chromatography-mass spectrometry digital analysis if it tests positive for any drugs or fails the validity checks. This level of inspection is so strict that no fake sample can survive.
How Can a Lab Test for Fake Urine?
A lab can test for fake urine by checking the temperature, appearance, and chemical composition.
Labs perform certain tests on urine samples to be sure.
They include:
Sniffing: Urine comprises odor-producing microbes that increase when the sample stays outside the body. However, more recent fake pee formulas include these proteins and have the same reliability and density as real urine.
Shaking: In most cases, shaking samples can reveal whether it is real. This is due to the presence of protein in actual urine, which, when disrupted, results in bubbles [6].
Creatinine levels: These must be between 601 and 2936 milligrams [7]. Your creatinine levels won’t show up in this range if you’re using the improper fake pee kit, which will raise a concern about the inorganic ratio.
Specific gravity: For a typical, healthy individual, the urine gravity should be between 0.1002 and 0.1003 [8]. When urine is over-diluted because of excessive water consumption to lower drug metabolite concentration and pass a drug test, labs employ specific gravity to calculate the level of dilution.
PH balance: Urine’s pH must fall between 4.5 and 8.0 [9]. Otherwise, it can be a sign that you have a medical condition, including kidney stones that affect the pH of your urine. If you do not disclose any medical conditions, the facilitator will be immediately suspicious if the pH of your urine indicates an abnormality. Your drug test can fail due to a thorough study of fake urine.
Other advanced testing methods: Modern drug testing techniques such as chromatography, spectrometry, and urine chemical testing can easily recognize chemicals in synthetic urines that are absent from biological samples and use them as distinctive identifiers [10].
Additionally, since most laboratories do not conduct genetic analyses on specimens, synthetic urine will be effective for drug tests.
A standard drug test cannot tell if a urine sample is synthetic or natural since most premium synthetic urine solutions have the required human urine components.
No, fake pee cannot be detected in a drug test as long as it is within the correct temperature range of human urine and its chemical composition.
How Long Does It Take to Test Urine in a Hospital?
It takes roughly 1-3 business days to test urine in a hospital. But temperature validity tests are done within two minutes of submitting urine.
What Do Most Urine Tests Look For?
Most urine tests look for traces of drug use like alcohol, marijuana (THC), cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, and benzodiazepines.
Do You Need to Pass a Drug Test?
A premium synthetic urine solution is one of the best solutions to pass a drug test. They are the most reliable and effective since they imitate real human urine.
If you need a product with a proven track record, trying Clear Choice Sub Solution might be a step in the right direction.
Sub Solution is complex enough to withstand inspection during validity testing, but it also provides you precise control over the sample’s temperature, eliminating the primary cause of fake sample detection.
Lisa is a content writer, blogger, and entrepreneur. When she is not managing her business, Colonial Stores, Lisa spends most of her time researching about synthetic urine products to review. She loves sharing her learnings in a form of blogging that’s why she built a website to connect with many people. You can read more about me here.
