Consuming nonalcoholic beer and wine in larger amounts may also produce false positive results because such products may contain a small amount of alcohol. Eating baker’s yeast with sugar, drinking large amounts of apple juice, or even eating ripe bananas may cause detectable amounts of EtG and EtS in urine.

Incidental exposure to ethanol from non-beverage sources may result in a positive drug test for EtG. Many common products purchased at grocery stores or pharmacies contain ethanol, which can cause a positive result in a drug test for EtG.

EtG tests are extremely sensitive and can detect low levels of alcohol ingestion. This can lead to some false positives if a person was exposed to one of the many products that contain alcohol.

coli or other common pathogens in urine specimens, resulting from UTIs or possible contamination during sampling and handling, could give false-negative EtG and EtS results in the detection of recent alcohol consumption because of hydrolysis by bacterial Я-glucuronidase and sulfatase.

EtG can be found in the urine much longer than alcohol in the blood or breath. After a few drinks, EtG can be present in the urine up to 48 hours, and sometimes up to 72 or hours or longer if the drinking is heavier.

Conclusions: Any drinking the night before should be detectable the following morning with EtG cutoffs of 100 or 200 ng/ml. Twenty-four hours after drinking, sensitivity is poor for light drinking, but good for heavier consumption. At 48 hours, sensitivity is low following 6 drinks or less.

Studies show that the intake of water prior to urine sampling results in a dramatic reduction in the EtG concentration, while expressing EtG as a ratio to creatinine is not affected by dilution.

Conclusion: Ethanol from hand sanitizers is predominantly incorporated by the respiratory tract but not via the skin. It can cause a distinct ethyl glucuronide excretion and thus analytically true-positive but forensically false-positive EtG findings in the urine of ethanol abstaining persons.

EtG can be detected in the urine for as long as 5 or more days after the consumption of alcohol, but more typically becomes undetectable within 48 to 72 hours (Wurst et al., 2002).

An EtG-I cutoff of 100 ng/mL is most likely to detect heavy drinking for up to five days and any drinking during the previous two days. Cutoffs of ≥ 500 ng/mL are likely to only detect heavy drinking during the previous day.

No accumulation occurs of EtG following repeated ethanol ingestion [42]. EtG is excreted in urine in a process influenced by water-induced diuresis [33], making it possible to include correction of urine levels to creatinine concentrations for some applications [43].

When someone consumes even relatively small amounts of alcohol, EtG is formed and can be detected. EtG may be detectable as soon as 2 hours after use and up to 80 hours past consumption.

There are some ways an individual can stop themselves consuming too much alcohol and becoming intoxicated:

1. Count drinks. Share on Pinterest Some apps that count drinks are available for both Android and Apple devices.
2. Slow down.
3. Hydrate.
4. Snacking.
5. Do not mix drinks.

There is evidence to suggest that exercise may attenuate the ethanol-induced decline in hepatic mitochondria and accelerates ethanol metabolism by the liver. Exercise training seems to reduce the extent of the oxidative damage caused by ethanol.