It’s hard to definitively say which drugs will show up on a drug test since there are so many types of drug tests available.

Mushrooms won’t show up on most routine drug tests, but certain specialized tests might detect them.

Urinalysis is the most commonly used type of drug testing, especially when it comes to run-of-the-mill testing by employers.

The most popular urine test is a 5-panel test. It usually detects:

  • THC (the psychoactive compound in marijuana)
  • cocaine
  • PCP
  • amphetamines
  • opioids

Mushrooms generally won’t show up on a 5-panel test. Same goes for 8-, 10-, and 12-panel tests.

However, specialized tests designed to detect mushrooms do exist. They’re just much more costly to perform, so they generally aren’t used unless there’s a strong suspicion that someone’s recently taken mushrooms.

There’s also the possibility of mushrooms being contaminated with other drugs. There have been reports of people selling regular, store-bought mushrooms laced with other drugs, including PCP, which is detected by most panel tests.

In addition to urine, blood, hair, or saliva can also be used to test for certain drugs.

A hair test can detect drug use, including the use of mushrooms, from the last 90 days. However, this type of drug test isn’t very common due to the cost involved.

Mushrooms are metabolized too quickly to be detected by a blood or saliva test.

You can’t predict exactly how long a drug will stay in your system because no two bodies are exactly alike. There are several facts that affect how long mushrooms stay in your system, most of which are out of your control.

Factors that affect how long mushrooms stay in your system include:

  • how much you ingest
  • the mushroom species
  • how often you take mushrooms
  • metabolism
  • age
  • body size and composition
  • overall health
  • how much you’ve had to eat or drink

Generally, your gastrointestinal tract absorbs psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in mushrooms, about 10 to 30 minutes after you ingest it and converts it to the compound psilocin.

Psilocin is typically cleared from your system in around 5 hours, but psilocybin takes nearly three times longer, taking up to 15 hours to clear.

Again, this is different for everyone, but it’s unlikely to find any traces of mushrooms in a person’s system after 24 hours.

That said, research shows that in some people, a trace amount can be detected for up to a week.

There’s not much you can do to get mushrooms out of your system any faster outside of not ingesting any more.

The more you ingest, the longer psilocybin will remain in your system and be detectable — if it’s included in the panel of drugs being tested for, that is.

Drinking water may help get it out of your body a bit faster, but not enough to be the difference between passing and not passing a drug test.

Mushrooms and most other hallucinogens aren’t routinely tested for in the workplace or other settings. But if someone really wanted to, they could use a costly, specialized test.

If you’re concerned about your substance use, consider talking to a professional. Reach out to your healthcare provider, or call the SAMHSA helpline at 800-622-4357 (HELP).

Adrienne Santos-Longhurst is a freelance writer and author who has written extensively on all things health and lifestyle for more than a decade. When she’s not holed up in her writing shed researching an article or off interviewing health professionals, she can be found frolicking around her beach town with husband and dogs in tow or splashing about the lake trying to master the stand-up paddle board.