With a view to pulling the veil back on the whys and wherefores of their operations, a representative of either the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) will every week answer a question of industry importance posed by the TDN.If you have any questions you'd like to ask HISA or HIWU, please feel free to send them over to us at the following email address: danross@thetdn.comThe following was submitted by trainer Ron Moquett.Q: While HIWU has taken steps to introduce uniform testing levels for certain drugs, these have been focused on uniform levels of detection rather than scientifically-driven thresholds to show level of effect. And so, is there any will within HIWU to conduct scientific studies to try to establish common-sense levels of effect thresholds for some of the more commonly detected drugs, in an attempt to differentiate between inadvertent contamination and those trying to gain a competitive disadvantage? HIWU: The idea of “no-effect thresholds” has been an ongoing topic addressed by HISA and HIWU since the beginning of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program.The NHBPA previously submitted a petition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which asked the FTC to adopt rules acknowledging no-effect thresholds. HISA and HIWU submitted a detailed letter to the FTC in response to this request, and the FTC ultimately denied the NHBPA's petition.No-effect thresholds have been rejected in the international racing community and by the anti-doping communities in human sports. In fact, HISA's adoption of no-effect thresholds would violate the HISA Act because regulating using no-effect thresholds would be considered less stringent than anti-doping practices worldwide.The use of no-effect thresholds would be ineffective and problematic for a few reasons:There is no way to know how or why a substance entered a horse's body based on the amount of the substance reported in a sample by a laboratory. Establishing no-effect thresholds for substances would not guarantee that only intentional or nefarious administrations get reported by a laboratory as positive tests.The reported amount of a substance in a sample only speaks to the amount of the substance at the time of sample collection; it does not speak to the amount of that substance that was in the horse in the hours, days, weeks, or months leading up to sample collection. Thus, if HISA and HIWU declared a testing level below a specific “no-effect threshold level” as insignificant, it would be ignoring the possibility that the substance was previously present in the horse at a higher and potentially more impactful concentration that could have lasting effects on race day.Given the complexity of a horse's bodily systems all the way down to the cellular level and that races can be won or lost by the smallest of margins, it is nearly impossible to determine with certainty that a substance present in a sample below a specific amount had no effect on the horse in some way.Most of the testing levels followed under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program have been used internationally and under state regulations for years; they are based on respected scientific administration studies. Perceived changes in testing sensitivity under HISA and HIWU are a result of consistency in rules, laboratory standards, and enforcement nationwide.With all of that said, HISA and HIWU have taken closer looks at substances such as metformin and methamphetamine to determine if current science suggests that there should be changes to how the substances are regulated.Additionally, last year, HISA and HIWU asked the RMTC's Scientific Advisory Committee to review existing classifications of Prohibited Substances and make recommendations as to whether changes are warranted. The RMTC's recommendations were adopted by the ADMC Committee and are reflected in the proposed modifications circulated for informal public comment in November.We will continue to review substances case by case based on Program needs and scientific evidence.The post Ask HIWU: No Effect Thresholds appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.