James Parnell answered
There are three main methods that can test for the presence of cotinine (one of the main chemical ingredients of chewing tobacco). These are hair, saliva or urine tests.
However, normally tests do not look for chewing tobacco, they only search for illegal substances.
Chewing tobacco test
If a test is looking for cotinine, then it's best that you wait for your body to naturally rid itself of the traces of the chemical before the test.
The amount of time this takes will vary depending on your weight, gender, age, the amount you have taken and your body's rate of metabolism.
However, normally tests do not look for chewing tobacco, they only search for illegal substances.
Chewing tobacco test
If a test is looking for cotinine, then it's best that you wait for your body to naturally rid itself of the traces of the chemical before the test.
The amount of time this takes will vary depending on your weight, gender, age, the amount you have taken and your body's rate of metabolism.
- Urine screening, the most commonly used method of testing, can usually detect the presence of cotinine in the urine about one to three days after it was last consumed.
- Traces of cotinine will still be detectable in saliva three days after the last usage, much the same as the traces found within urine.
- Hair follicle testing can detect traces of any form of drug use over a much longer period of time. This method of screening will be able to find traces of cotinine in the hair for anything up to three months after it was last used.
