An impending drug test can be a stressful and harrowing experience. Whether you smoked pot once last week or are a regular drug user, you may be fretting about the potential outcome of the results.
Your ability to pass may have a dramatic impact on your life, determining whether you receive parole, get a job, or can continue working for a particular company.
Since the beginning of drug tests, people have sought ways to circumvent the system. Typically, this maneuvering occurs because the individual knows they cannot provide a clean sample during the screening process.
Fortunately, a cottage industry has formed around beating drug tests.
These days, people have a wealth of options. There are diuretics, detox drinks, synthetic urines, and multivitamins designed to help people pass drug tests.
But if you are under the gun or can’t afford to spend money on any of these products, you might find one of your closest friends to assist you. But what if they are not the same gender as you?
While there are differences between men and women’s urine, those discrepancies do not rule out the possibility of pee substitution.
The following article will help explain urine gender tests and the likelihood that a swapped urine sample comes up false. We will also give you some helpful hints and tips to help you pass your next drug test.
The Legal Status of Gender Testing
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states, “It is illegal to discriminate against some (applicant or employee) because of that person’s…sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy).”
Because of this mandate regarding discrimination, it does not make sense for an employer to test for gender in a drug test.
Put another way, knowing the gender of an employee based on their drug test sample would give them an extraneous piece of information…but it doesn’t mean they won’t do so.
So, an employer does have the legal right to mandate drug tests and can opt to test for gender. The likelihood is infinitesimally small, though. Not only is the information unlikely to be useful, but also the test for gender is significantly more expensive than standard tests.
For instance, a 12-drug panel test at Walmart typically used for substance abuse screening costs $21.19, while a urine test that screens for gender can cost double that price.
What the Different Types of Drugs Tests?
The most common drug screenings are the 5-panel test and the 10-panel test. The 5-panel test looks for the presence of cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, PCP, and THC (found in marijuana).
The 12-panel test looks for seven additional substances, including methadone and barbiturates.
Many common screenings will use urine or saliva to conduct the testing. It is also possible to use blood, hair, and nail clippings. But none of these can determine the sex of the donor; testing for gender involves using a different method.
Is There a Difference Between Male and Female Urine?
Yes—there is a difference between men and women’s urine, though the two are much more similar than not. Both are made in the same process, mainly composed of water, and contain nitrogenous waste. The difference lies in subtle compositional substances.
The most apparent difference between men and women’s urine is the presence of different hormones. For instance, women’s urine contains the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, which they secrete during pregnancy.
This hormone is the same one that allows women to perform home pregnancy tests.
Women’s urine may also differ from men’s during menstruation. Women may have trace amounts of red blood cells in their pee during her period.
Furthermore, because a woman’s vagina and urethra are close in proximity, the pH and quantity of epithelial cells, which line cavities in the body, may cause differing results between men and women’s urine.
Despite the fact that men have a lower chance of contaminated urine, there are some distinct markers in men’s urine that distinguish them from women.
For instance, men have higher muscle mass than women, which can lead to greater levels of creatinine present in their urine.
Residual pre-ejaculate or sperm in the urethra may also be swept into the urine sample, indicating that it is of male origin.
And while the focus here has been on a urine-based drug test, there are differences to know in the instance of a blood-based drug test.
Men and women process alcohol at different rates because men have a higher concentration of the enzyme dehydrogenase. This difference also causes them to render down alcohol present in the bloodstream more quickly.
Can You Use Urine from the Opposite Sex?
On the surface, the urine of men and women looks similar. Both are primarily water-based with some nitrogenous waste materials. It is once we look closer that we notice the differences, in the presences of sex hormones, pH, blood, and even reproductive cells.
While even the cheap tests will reveal a slight discrepancy in the composition of your pH and specific gravity, it is unlikely that there will be enough of a red flag that testers would declare a false sample.
Also, companies are unlikely to test for gender because the results would not provide them useful information, and the cost of those tests would be higher.
To drive this point home even further, the only reasonable explanation for a company to test for gender is if they suspect men of using women’s samples and vice versa. The cost of analyzing DNA or looking for other chemical substances does not make financial sense.
While we believe that you should never say never, you can effectively rule out the chance of receiving a drug test advanced enough to detect specifically female or male identifiers in the urine.
Screenings
If you are reading this article, odds are you have a screening coming up. If that is the case, there are alternatives to using someone else’s urine.
An added benefit of these other methods is that they do not involve asking a friend for urine and hoping they find your request reasonable.
Detoxification
Detoxification is your best bet. This process happens naturally over several weeks as your body eliminates toxins from your liver, kidneys, and digestive system.
For instance, your liver processes and disposes of alcohol, while your kidneys have a similar process for dealing with urine and nitrogenous waste.
You can leverage this detoxification to speed up the process. The most common way to do this is through diet and exercise, which we will elaborate on below. Another way to detox your body is through the use of supplements.
Detox regimens have a wide variety of claims, and some people insist they are beneficial. The alleged benefits include improving circulation, eliminating toxins, and stimulating your organs. That being said, few scientific studies back up the validity of these claims.
There is even a niche market within the detox community that has formed around passing a screening. These cleansing supplements appear to have more validity than their comprehensive brethren, though the process they utilize is effectively dilution.
The news site “Vice” even did a detoxifying test to see which of detox drinks were the most effective to help marijuana smokers.
Diet and Exercise
The best option is diet and exercise. We know this can sound like a hassle, especially if you don’t do these things already, but doing so is the best bang for your buck.
That is because being healthier correlates strongly with the ability to flush toxins from your system more rapidly.
For instance, a lower BMI increases the likelihood of passing a screening. Compounds, such as THC, are stored in fat, and it can stay there for a long time.
There is even an exponential correlation between the amounts of THC found in a skinny person as opposed to an overweight person.
Exercise boosts your metabolism too, which can help you reduce your toxins levels in addition to lowering BMI. Daily high-intensity activity goes hand-in-hand with higher levels of water.
This spike can improve the rate at which your body processes undesirable waste.
Similarly, a healthy and well-balanced diet can provide you with the necessary health benefits to produce a better drug test sample. For instance, junk foods like pizza, candy, and french fries are high in sodium or sugar.
These high rates result in higher levels of water retention, which also slows down your body’s metabolism.
Abstinence from Toxins or Chemical Substances
This one feels like a no-brainer, but it is essential to write it down anyways. Limiting your exposure to other toxins or chemicals can assist you in your quest to pass a screening. That means reducing your intake of cigarettes, alcohol, and other similar products.
This ban means no smoking, either. The easiest way to keep THC, or whatever compound you are worried about, out of your system is by not consuming it. Trust us—getting that job or keeping your current position will be worth the temporary hiatus.
Synthetic Urine
This has all the same benefits of using someone’s urine for a drug test without the additional hassle or risk. All you have to do is mix the synthetic powder with water, refrigerate, and…Voila! You have a legitimate urine sample.
Best of all, synthetic urine has the same smell and color of the real thing while imitating other characteristics of real pee, too.
Make sure to purchase a high-quality one if you do choose to go this route. High-end fake pee retails at $20 to $30 per two ounces.
Check out our collection of products – we specialize in providing the best synthetic urine kits. We also offer a variety of other accessories, such as the urine heater or the synthetic urine belt.
Final Thoughts
A urine test can detect differences in sex. However, the odds are negligible that a company would pay the money or exercise the resources to determine the donor’s sex.
The single best option is to enhance your diet and exercise routine as a way of detoxifying your body.
You can further leverage these results through supplements and abstinence from toxins.
Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1955359/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0840470415581251
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2089158-overview
