ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — With all this talk about vaping and how many teens use e-cigarettes, it might have you wondering if your kid has ever tried it. There are tests you can have your teen take to get an answer.
A new lab in Royal Oak can test for all sorts of things, including nicotine. There are five different tests that could show if your teen is vaping. The location is easy to find right off of Woodward and ironically right next to a vaping shop.
“It’s scary, it’s scary being a parent.”
Amy Bednarchick is the operations manager of Any Lab Test Now. It’s a national chain just opened their first Michigan location in Royal Oak.
She said, “Things are different than when we were kids.”
Amy says parents are concerned about their teens using drugs.
“A wake up call to some parents.”
But, more families are coming in for nicotine tests because of vaping is so popular.
“We were all teenagers, we know that sometimes your parents know and sometimes your parents don’t know. When you become a parent you realize that.”
There are five tests to determine if someone used nicotine. If you think your teen vaped in the past few days, the lab will do a blood, saliva or urine test.
The urine test results are the spot. The others would take a day or two.
If you think your child used e-cigarettes in the last three months, even if only once, you can test their hair or nails. Those results could take up to a week.
“You’re body absorbs what it’s exposed to, we just have to know what time frame you’re looking at and then we can direct you to the best testing possible.”
Amy continued, “If you get ahead of the problem, you aren’t going for have to deal with your kid laying the in the hospital.”
Regardless of the results, Amy says it’s a good idea to have an honest conversation with your kids before and after the tests.
“Our ultimate job is to teach our children how to be responsible for their health and be responsible for their lives so this is a great learning lesson.”
