The healthcare experts and doctors believe that nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs in use today. Tobacco usage results in the absorption of nicotine, the major component of tobacco through the lungs, buccal and nasal membranes. After that nicotine is metabolized into nearly 20 metabolites that are excreted in urine. Cotinine is the primary metabolite for nicotine tests and tobacco use screenings. Because tobacco users and smokers deny the usage, the insurance companies prefer the Cotinine test to find the specimens of nicotine/cotinine.



About Nicotine/Cotinine:

Nicotine is converted into cotinine prior to being excreted from the body. Because nicotine has a short existence in its natural form in the body, cotinine testing extends the duration of detection for several days. The most common argument when tests resulted cotinine positive is, passive smoking or second hand smoke exposure from a family member or coworker. Studies show that the individuals who are heavily exposed to second hand smoke do have considerable quantities of nicotine/cotinine in their system. For this reason, the drug testing laboratories set cutoff levels for a “positive" cotinine test significantly higher than what is seen for passive exposure.

The Nicotine/Cotinine Test:

The COT One Step Cotinine Test Device (Urine) is a lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay for the detection of Cotinine in human urine. The cut-off concentration of Cotinine is 200 ng/ml and can be detected in 2-3 days after nicotine usage. In a period of 24-hour urination, approximately 5% of a nicotine dose is excreted as unchanged drug, 10% as cotinine and 35% as hydroxycotinine. The presence of the remaining metabolites accounts for less than 5%. That is the reason for Cotinine being used for the detection of nicotine. The test is based on the principle of highly specific immunochemical reactions of antigens and antibodies.

This test is used to obtain a visual, qualitative result of tobacco use and is for the determination of smoking status and/or tobacco/nicotine use. It is a simple and convenient test for the rapid detection of the presence of Cotinine in the human system. The COT One Step Cotinine Test is available to professionals and individuals concerned with tobacco use/abuse. The test is compact, self-contained and can be performed any time when there is a nicotine drug testing required.

The COT One Step Cotinine Test Device (Urine) provides only a qualitative, preliminary analytical result. A secondary analytical method should be used to obtain a confirmed result. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is the preferred confirmatory method.