European Workplace Drug Testing Society

The 10th Symposium on Workplace Drug Testing (WDT)
took place in Turin on May 4-5, 2017.

The business programme has been varied and of a very high quality with a lineup of quality speakers. The sessions have been of interest to beginners and experienced practitioners and topics range from the prevalence of drug abuse throughout Europe through the problems of collection, analysis and interpretation; the legal basis and policy-making for WDT and performance impairment, as well as a series of case studies.

Symposium Programme

Please find here the full programme of the Conference.

Wednesday, May 3^rd, 2017

19.00: Welcome Reception
"Lingotto Congress Hotel"

Thursday, May 4^th, 2017

08:00 – 16:00: Registration
09:00 – 09:15: Official Welcome Address
Alberto Salomone, EWDTS President

Session One: "Challenges facing Europe"

Chairperson: Wim Schielen, Michael Michalakis

09:15 - 9:45: An overview of the issues facing Europe
Liesbeth Vandam
09:45 - 10:10: Interpol overview
Maurizio Brutti
10:10 - 10:30: Cannabinoid Receptor Antagonists (SCRA) use in UK prisons
Caroline Bonds, UK
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break - Sponsors Exhibition
11:00 - 11:20: Over the hill UK Ministry of Defence
Christopher Davies, UK
11:20 - 11:40: Drug testing in Italy : Nine years of experience viewed from the Occupational health physicians perspective.
Dr. Gianluca Rosso, Italy
11:40 - 12:00: Collection/testing in Finland, Sweden and Norway
Markus Timosaari, Finland
12:00 - 12:20: New psychoactive drugs "keeping one step ahead"
Simon Hudson, UK
12:20 - 14:00: Lunch break - Sponsors exhibition

Session Two: "New Developments in the testing Field"

Chairperson: James Nutt

14:00 - 14:20: Electronic Chain of custody electronic documentation
Coleen Volksdorf, USA
14:20 - 14:40: Intelligent fingerprinting
Paul Yates, UK

Session Three: “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”

Chairperson: Fatima Pereira Da Silva, Gary McCutcheon

14:40 - 15:00: Aviation Industry
Aik Weinhold, Eurowings
15:00 – 15:20: Rail FS Group Italy approach to drugs and alcohol
Dr. Gennaro Palma, Italy
15:20 - 15:40: Rail UK approach to Drug and Alcohol Testing
Mike Stallard, UK
15:40- 16.00: Coffee break - Sponsors exhibition
16:00 - 16:20: Driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicines: the lessons of the DRUID project
Alain Verstraete, Belgium
16:20 - 16:40: Fitness to drive situation in Belgium
Anneleen Poll, Belgium
19:00: Conference dinner
Circolo Esperia

Friday, May 5^th, 2017

09:00 - 09:15: Young Scientist Award
sponsored by LGC

Session Four: "Myths and Truths of Drug Testing"

Chairperson: Thomas Keller, Per Björklov

09:15 – 09:35: Marijuana
Dan Demers, Canada
09:35 – 09:55: Poppy Seeds
Dr Michelle Carlin, UK
10:00 – 10:20: Testing for prohibited substances in sport. Progress in anti-doping strategies
Francesco Botrè, Italy
10:20 - 10:40: "Catch me if you can"- View from a recovering addict
Mark Collier, UK
10:40- 11.00: Coffee break
11:00 - 11:20: San Patrignano. Stories of those who changed their lives: from being a risk to society to become an added value.
Monica Barzanti, Italy
11:20 - 11:40: Strange tales from a Medical review officer
Bruce Demers, Canada
11:40 - 12:00: Occupational exposure of police officers to illicit drugs - comparing exposure to the outcomes of hair and urine testing
Julia Howitt, Australia
12:00 - 12:20: Drugs of abuse and alcohol biomarkers in hair: interpretation issues and possible role in WDT
Donata Favretto, Italy
12:20 – 14.00: Lunch Break - Sponsors Exhibition

Session Five: "Guidelines & Human Factors"

Chairperson: Nadia Fucci, Michaela Brcak

14:00 - 14:20: POCT’s EWDTS Project
Wim Schielen, The Netherlands
14:20 - 14:40: The USA experience
Sherri Vogler, USA
14:40 - 15:00: Workplace drug testing as a contribution for sustainability
Dr. Jose Restolho, Portugal
15:00 - 15:20: EWDTS Project Training for Chain of Custody collectors
Michael Michalakis, UK
15:20: Farewell drinks at NH “Lingotto” Hotel

EWDTS Young Scientist Award

The Society would like announce the voting for the EWDTS Young Scientist Award for 2017 has closed. We would like to congratulate the winner of the award as Andrea Bozzo with his work on ‘Occupational exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers: the diriment role of alcohol biomarkers in hair’.

The Society would also like to thank all the applicants to the competition and commend the high standards of work submitted to us. This makes for a bright future in this field of work.

The EWDTS aim to promote new innovation from young scientists in the field of workplace drug and alcohol testing. The challenge was to submit fresh ideas, relevant to the industry, and presented in an easily accessible format. Details on the four finalists work (including the winner) can be found below.

Andrea Bozzo will deliver a presentation (in person) at the EWDTS Turin conference in May 2017 and will receive € 500, 2 night’s free accommodation at the EWDTS conference, and free entrance to the EWDTS conference.

Andrea Bozzo – Winner of the EWDTS Young Scientist Award 2017.
"Occupational exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers: the diriment role of alcohol biomarkers in hair"

Bio Submission
Federica Dal Bello
"The Drugs Don’t Work"

Bio and Submission
Jekaterina Mazina-Šinkar
"Development of portable Illegal drug abuse in saliva analyser based on capillary electrophoresis couples to innovative UVC fluorescence detector for on-site use"

Bio Submission
Mahado Ismail
"A Diagnostic Test for Cocaine and Benzoylecgonine in Urine and Oral Fluid using Portable Mass Spectrometry"

Bio Submission

LGC are proud to sponsor the EWDTS Young Scientist Award investing in science for a safer world.

10th EWDTS Symposium - Turin 2017