ACTON, Mass., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Psychemedics Corporation, hair testing for drugs of abuse pioneer and leader for 25 years, announced today that its laboratory has received international accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025:2005) for a broad spectrum of laboratory testing including drugs of abuse and forensics in hair and urine specimens. The International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025 accreditation confirms international compliance and technical competence of the laboratory.  Psychemedics was accredited by Forensic Quality Services – International (FQS-1), the country's longest established provider of ISO accreditation in the United States.

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Psychemedics' dedicated laboratory is located in Culver City, California where hair samples from all over the world are processed. The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for drug screening and LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS equipment for the most sensitive confirmation testing. The state of the art laboratory allows Psychemedics to provide the most advanced drug testing services available.

"In an industry where all hair testing technology is not the same, Psychemedics' proprietary technology continues to deliver the greatest sensitivity for identifying drug abusers.  As the industry leader, Psychemedics has always maintained the highest standards and quality controls," said Raymond C. Kubacki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This additional recognition affirms to our growing number of international clients, as well as domestic clients, that they are partnered with one of the highest quality laboratories anywhere in the world."

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation provides formal recognition to laboratories that demonstrate technical competency, and maintains this recognition through periodic evaluations to ensure continued compliance. This international recognition is given to a select group of laboratories worldwide. The evaluation by an independent testing facility provides assurance of the laboratory's ability to maintain stated quality standards, provide consistent results and continually improve customer satisfaction levels while conforming to international standards.

"Psychemedics has always had a commitment to excellence, as evidenced by the thousands of clients worldwide that rely upon our proprietary technology for their drug testing needs," said Mr. Kubacki. "As the worldwide leader in hair testing for drugs of abuse, this international accreditation reinforces our continued commitment to meet the standards demanded by our global customer base."

About Forensic Quality Services, Inc. - Forensic Quality Services (FQS) is a not-for-profit membership organization incorporated in Florida. FQS is the longest established provider of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditations to forensic testing agencies in the United States. FQS accredited the first US forensic testing agency to ISO/IEC 17025 and the first US forensic crime laboratory to ISO/IEC 17025. FQS was recognized in 2004 by National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NACLA) and today is a member in this organization. FQS is a full member and signatory of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and Inter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC).

About Psychemedics Corporation – Psychemedics PMD is the world's leading drug testing company using hair for the detection of drugs of abuse. Psychemedics has been successfully operating for 25 years and thousands of corporations worldwide currently rely on Psychemedics' proprietary hair analysis technology for their pre-employment and employee drug screening.  Psychemedics' clients include over 10% of the Fortune 500, some of the largest police departments in America and six Federal Reserve Banks. For more information, visit the Psychemedics website at www.psychemedics.com.

Cautionary Statement for purposes of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:  From time to time, information provided by Psychemedics may contain forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties.  In particular, statements contained in this release that are not historical facts (including but not limited to statements concerning growth, earnings, profit margins, earnings per share, revenues, dividends, future business, new accounts, customer base, market share, test volume and sales and marketing strategies) may be "forward looking" statements.  Actual results may differ from those stated in any forward-looking statements.  Factors that may cause such differences include but are not limited to risks associated with the expansion of the Company's sales and marketing network, development of markets for new products and services offered, the economic health of principal customers of the Company, government regulation, including but not limited to FDA regulations, competition and general economic conditions and other factors disclosed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact: Neil Lerner, Vice President of Finance
(978) 206-8220

SOURCE Psychemedics Corporation