Information About a Urine Alcohol Test

Traditionally, urine drug testing is performed to monitor abstinence from alcohol for those in a substance abuse program. The use of this test and its accuracy are questioned by authorities, despite numerous studies supporting the science behind the test itself.

Detection

• Once alcohol is consumed and enters the blood stream it forms metabolites or by products that are found in the urine for several days -- up to 80 hours in fact, four times longer than the alcohol itself.

  Initial studies and urine alcohol tests included only identification of EtG or ethyl glucuronide.

  More recent studies identified a second metabolite - EtS or Ethyl Sulfate.

  Use of both bio markers for testing urine is shown to be more reliable than the testing solely for EtG.

EtG or Ethyl Glucuronide

• As indicated above, EtG is a metabolite of alcohol found in urine after ethanol or alcohol is no longer detectable. Unfortunately, alcohol that is consumed socially is not the only substance that metabolizes into EtG. Other household products including alcohol based hand cleaners, mouthwash and some beauty products also contain alcohol that when absorbed thru the skin may be detected in urine as EtG.

  One study entitled "The Effect of the Use of Mouthwash on Ethylglucuronide Concentrations in Urine" and published in the November/December 2006 issue of Journals of Toxicology reported that in fact household mouthwash is detected in the urine after normal use.

EtS or Ethyl Sulfate

• Due to the issues with false positive urine alcohol tests using only EtG as an indicator, studies continued in an effort to improve the testing of urine.

  EtS or Ethyl Sulfate is a second bio marker identified in urine after the consumption of alcohol. Unlike its counterpart, EtS is shown to be more reliable and accurate.

  In fact, a study reported in the the 1992 issue of Journals of Toxicology regarding the use of a new test - Emit ETS plus - indicated the use of this test was more accurate, reliable and is free of interferences with small molecular weight alcohols, aldehyde, ketones and glycols -- substances that may have shown a false positive with other testing methods.

Benefits of using EtG and EtS testing

• More accurate testing and for longer periods of time than with EtG alone and is a strong indicator of alcohol ingestion within previous three to four days.

  Ideal for abstinence and zero tolerance situations including rehabilitation programs and follow up testing.

  Is not effected by products containing other forms of alcohol.

Considerations

• Though urine drug screens are accurate in detecting the ingestion of alcohol, it is important to remember the test itself is only able to indicate that alcohol in some form has been ingested. It is not able to identify the current state of the individual. In other words, the test cannot identify if an individual is currently intoxicated, only that they have at some point in the last 80 hours had some form of alcoholic beverage to drink.

  These tests are considered reliable for programs whose purpose is to test abstinance from drinking alcoholic beverages; however, for workplace drug and alcohol programs, they may not be appropriate as they do not provide the necessary information regarding an individual's current blood alcohol content.