One of the ways to check for the presence of nicotine in the body is through a blood test. The presence of nicotine in the blood can signify that the individual smokes. Some blood tests measure cotinine, a chemical produced from nicotine in the body, instead of nicotine. Some blood tests measure the level of nicotine or cotinine in the blood. In contrast, others give a positive or negative report according to predetermined levels for these chemicals in the blood.
Reasons for false nicotine positives
There can be several reasons an individual can test positive for a nicotine blood test. Reasons range from diet, other medications, environment, and human errors in labs. Below are some details about why your blood test may throw up a false positive.
- Diet: The American Academy of Insurance Medicine has found that foods like mustard, broccoli, almonds, and cabbage, if consumed before a blood test, can lead to a false positive for nicotine. They increase the thiocyanate level in the body, leading to these faulty results.
- Environment: People who work in metal refining or other similar environments with high levels of metals can have increased levels of thiocyanate in the body. This can throw up a false positive for nicotine.
- Medications: Some medications like THC, amphetamines, and a few others can also lead to false nicotine positives.
- Nicotine products: People, especially on cessation programs, use nicotine gums and patches, which might indicate a positive in blood, although this is not false. If the doctor is unaware of the cessation program, it might falsely indicate smoking.
- Errors: Even though most major labs take utmost care to avoid mix-ups in blood samples and test results, human errors sometimes lead to a false positive for nicotine in the blood.
These blood tests to determine the presence or absence of nicotine in the blood are done for several purposes. They could be for health insurance, as part of medical tests for a company, or a smoking cessation program.
