Nicotine Test for Benefits at Work

[warren]

Why game the system? Take the lesser plan and be happy you are working. Or, look for work where you don't need to be dishonest. But, this and similar posts, over the years, others always put the lie to pipe smokers being better, handsomer, more erudite and so forth. I never been that naive but, it's good to have it in black and white, now and then, as it reinforces my my philosophy for life, "Always expect the worst in a person. That way you are never disappointed and sometimes, rarely but, sometimes, pleasantly surprised."

 

[bullet08]

Insurance is rather very nice to have. Used to work for a corp America that had rather high end policy. Once I was done, been under my wife's company's policy which isn't as plush. It's a lot of pain. So, I completely understand your situation. Maybe it's time to quit? Or quit till you retire? I mean having good policy is much better deal than less policy, and there's bonus of quitting smoke. Or move to NC. So far, there isn't policy choice due to smoking, but smokers do pay slightly more.

 

[Reggie]

Now you got me nerding out here a little bit. The predominant enzyme involved in nicotine and cotinine metabolism is CYP2A6 where nicotine is metabolized primarily to cotinine, and cotinine primarily to trans-3'-hydroxycotinine. CYP2A6 has been suggested as a highly polymorphic gene because it is located in a small chromosomal region that contains several genes and some unequal crossover events, point mutations and genetic conversions between CYP2A6 and CYP2A7. Note these type of enzymes are located primarily in the liver as are many other enzymes that clear toxins form the body.

In seems Asians have a higher incidence of polymorphism leading to impaired CYP2A6 function. The frequencies of these alleles vary considerably among different ethnic populations, the deletion alleles being most common in Orientals (up to 20%). Studies in Japanese suggest that CYP2A6 poor metabolizer genotypes result in altered nicotine kinetics whereas similar studies in Caucasian populations have not revealed any clear associations between variant CYP2A6 genotypes and smoking behaviour.

What the hell did you just say?

 

[JohnMosesBrowning]

If it is a blood test , nicotine and what they test for is out of system in 3 days, I’ve done 2 days and been fine 9 times. I take same tests annually . drink lots of water day before and day of . Good luck , don’t sweat it. You have zero worries with 2 week hiatus .

That's great, thank you! I've been hoping to hear from someone who has taken the test previously. This is helpful!

 

[JohnMosesBrowning]

Why game the system? Take the lesser plan and be happy you are working. Or, look for work where you don't need to be dishonest. But, this and similar posts, over the years, others always put the lie to pipe smokers being better, handsomer, more erudite and so forth. I never been that naive but, it's good to have it in black and white, now and then, as it reinforces my my philosophy for life, "Always expect the worst in a person. That way you are never disappointed and sometimes, rarely but, sometimes, pleasantly surprised."

Because I believe it's an unfair system. They make their move. I make mine. I'm sorry you believe this to make me a bad person.

 

[JohnMosesBrowning]

I indicated that I'd post the levels they are testing for. I'm not sure anyone is actually interested, but since I said I would:

< 10 ng/mL for blood test
< 100 ng/mL for urine

 

[warren]

Because I believe it's an unfair system. They make their move. I make mine. I'm sorry you believe this to make me a bad person.

Heavy edit: I never said you were either good or bad. You're making that call. I simply have a tough time abiding "situational ethics", the bane of a civil society.

 

[JohnMosesBrowning]

In case anyone was curious or wanted a follow-up I had my cotinine test this week and my results came back. I was disappointed that it doesn't show specific values, but a pass is a pass, so I'm definitely good with that result. The insurance company says that one negative test is all I need so I don't ever have to take it again.

Component	Your Value	Standard Range
Nicotine, Urine	<2.0 ng/mL	<2.0 ng/mL
Cotinine, Urine	<5.0 ng/mL	<5.0 ng/mL
Anabasine, Urine	<2.0 ng/mL	<2.0 ng/mL
(NOTE) Additional Reference Ranges: --------------------------- Active Tobacco Passive Abstinence User Exposure 2 Weeks and more ================ ========== ================ Nicotine 1000 - 5000 ng/mL <20 ng/mL <30 ng/mL Cotinine 1000 - 8000 ng/mL <20 ng/mL <50 ng/mL Anabasine 3 - 500 ng/mL <3 ng/mL <3 ng/mL Reference Ranges from: Clin. Chem. 48:1460-1471 (2002) Direct any interpretive questions to the toxicology laboratory. This is for medical use only, it is not intended for forensic use.

 

[WVOldFart]

In case anyone was curious or wanted a follow-up I had my cotinine test this week and my results came back. I was disappointed that it doesn't show specific values, but a pass is a pass, so I'm definitely good with that result. The insurance company says that one negative test is all I need so I don't ever have to take it again.

Component	Your Value	Standard Range
Nicotine, Urine	<2.0 ng/mL	<2.0 ng/mL
Cotinine, Urine	<5.0 ng/mL	<5.0 ng/mL
Anabasine, Urine	<2.0 ng/mL	<2.0 ng/mL
(NOTE) Additional Reference Ranges: --------------------------- Active Tobacco Passive Abstinence User Exposure 2 Weeks and more ================ ========== ================ Nicotine 1000 - 5000 ng/mL <20 ng/mL <30 ng/mL Cotinine 1000 - 8000 ng/mL <20 ng/mL <50 ng/mL Anabasine 3 - 500 ng/mL <3 ng/mL <3 ng/mL Reference Ranges from: Clin. Chem. 48:1460-1471 (2002) Direct any interpretive questions to the toxicology laboratory. This is for medical use only, it is not intended for forensic use.

I'm glad things worked out for you. That will be a load off your mind.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

If you choose to smoke, admit it.

 

[fireground_piper]

If you choose to smoke, admit it.

It’s not his doctor, family or anything personal.

I don’t tell my employer anything not required for employment. There’s prejudice everywhere and unless it’s legally their business, then it’s not their business. It’s not that he’s not allowed to smoke, just be under a threshold of nicotine to get a specific tier of health insurance and he met that.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

It’s not his doctor, family or anything personal.

I don’t tell my employer anything not required for employment. There’s prejudice everywhere and unless it’s legally their business, then it’s not their business. It’s not that he’s not allowed to smoke, just be under a threshold of nicotine to get a specific tier of health insurance and he met that.

Bro, smoking is harmful to your health. If you choose to smoke, admit it and pay the premium.

 

[fireground_piper]

That’s not the rule the employer set. The employer set a nicotine threshold to be met at a singular point in time.

If it was a zero tolerance policy, the threshold would be zero with randomized, regularly cadenced testing to maintain compliance among membership.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

If you smoke, admit it and move on. Otherwise, you're being dishonest.

 

[fireground_piper]

That’s not the rules requested to follow.

 

[trouttimes]

If you smoke, admit it and move on. Otherwise, you're being dishonest.

Dishonest? Some things are nobody’s business. I can think of quite a few things that effect health that people would scream about if questioned. Red meat, sugar, salt, bread, etc. all can effect health. I bet more people are hurt by sodas than pipe smoking. Nobody’s business. Nanny state has gone too far.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Dishonest? Some things are nobody’s business. I can think of quite a few things that effect health that people would scream about if questioned. Red meat, sugar, salt, bread, etc. all can effect health. I bet more people are hurt by sodas than pipe smoking. Nobody’s business. Nanny state has gone too far.

No it hasn't. Stop the Nanny Gate nonsense. Grow a couple.

Lying has gone too far. If you buy something to protect your butt, you should be honest. Otherwise, all the non smokers have to pay for your decisions.

It is a known correlation between smoking and COPD, not so with what you listed.

Would you want to pay car insurance for DUI and speeders? I didn't think so.

 

[warren]

Some things are nobody’s business.

If you are taking freebies at work, insurance and such, whose business is it. It's really simple, don't want to play by the rules, buy your own damned insurance rather than expect your employer to simply provide it with no rules.

I bet more people are hurt by sodas than pipe smoking.

It's smoking and tobacco we are discussing. Try to focus.

 

[TheWhale13]

I'm with Fireground on this one, there is no need to be too honest, it's not hurting anyone, so why not take advantage of it? What one does outside work is none of its business unless it impacts work performance.

 

[warren]

So we are back to situational ethics, so easy, "I'm only honest when it suits my purposes." I'd "can" such an employee in a second when I caught him/her stealing. I won't abide a thief.