Minimum Levels of Controlled Substances and/or Their Metabolites in Blood
Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(c)(4) (relating to chemical testing to determine amount of alcohol or controlled substance), as amended by the act of September 30, 2003 (P.L. 120, No. 24), the Department of Health has published the following notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin listing the minimum levels of Schedule I, nonprescribed Schedule II and nonprescribed Schedule III controlled substances or their metabolites that must be present in a person's blood for the test results to be admissible in a prosecution for a violation of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(b)(1.1), § 3802(d)(1), (2) or (3) or § 3808(a)(2) (relating to driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked; driving under influence of alcohol or controlled substance; and illegally operating a motor vehicle not equipped with ignition interlock).
The minimum levels listed in the notice are limits of quantitation (LOQs). An LOQ is the lowest concentration of a controlled substance or metabolite that a laboratory can reliability determine. A laboratory's LOQ for each controlled substance and/or metabolite will depend upon the equipment and procedures the laboratory employs. The minimum levels listed in the notice were developed by reviewing the LOQs reported by the laboratories approved by the Department of Health to analyze blood for controlled substances or their metabolites.
The levels listed are intended to establish the lowest reportable results admissible in a prosecution. Individual laboratories are not required to have LOQs for controlled substances and/or their metabolites that are equal to or below the minimum levels published in the notice.
Minimum Levels of Controlled Substances or their Metabolites in Blood to Establish Presence of Controlled Substance
LOQs for each laboratory approved to analyze blood for controlled substances and/or their metabolites are listed in the document below. The document only includes the controlled substances and metabolites that appear in the Pennsylvania Bulletin minimum levels notice and may not include comprehensive lists of the laboratories' testing capabilities. When testing for additional controlled substances or their metabolites is necessary, interested parties should contact the laboratory performing the test to inquire as to that laboratory's specific method of testing, the equipment used and any policies and procedures employed by that laboratory to ensure that the test results are valid.
Limits of Quantitation of Laboratories Approved to Analyze Blood for Controlled Substances and/or the Metabolites