At a glance
CDC advances laboratory testing capabilities to identify emerging drugs of abuse and contaminants.
Overview
Laboratories have a key role in the response to the opioid overdose epidemic. Successful detection and identification of opioids, and other drugs mixed with opioids in clinical, research, and environmental samples, largely depend on a testing laboratory's access to reference standards for confirmation.
CDC improves laboratory drug testing by providing free reference materials to increase nationwide testing capacity and develop novel analytical approaches to improve response to new and unanticipated contaminants and exposure outbreaks.