Drinking alcohol is a good way to liven’ up a get together with friends or just relax alone after a day of hard work. However, alcohol the more alcohol in your blood, known as blood alcohol content or BAC, the more your cognitive abilities decreases. Some critical thinking functions of the brain are clouded too, and some activities such as driving can be too dangerous.

Beside the very common DUI cases, there are other reasons why an alcohol detection test is done. Alcohol and its byproducts can only be detected in a limited time frame. There are also a lot of things that affect the detection of alcohol content and will be discussed in this article.

Reasons For Monitoring Alcohol In The Urine

Aside from DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol, there are other reasons why alcohol testing is done. Instances such as alcohol rehabilitation test their patients to track the progress of the program. Liver transplant patients are also tested to avoid complications. Schools and the military can also test students and cadets in order to know who consuming alcohol is when it’s prohibited.

The Most Common Alcohol Test 

There are three methods in detecting alcohol content in the blood. The breath test is more common for DUI cases because it is quick and easy to administer. The blood test is done for more accurate detection. When it comes to measuring alcohol abstinence, a urine test is used and is also the most common detection test administered. Urine tests can be done with EtG devices such as EtG test (alcohol) – Countrywide kit.

Detection Timeframe

The more elaborate tests can detect alcohol content and its byproducts in a maximum of 96 hours (for the ethyl sulfate content). People with heavy exposure to alcohol will have alcohol traces in their urine up to 80 hours and can be detected by the EtG test kit. Alcohol affects men and women differently. Gender affects the result of an alcohol urine test. Because of men’s higher level of stomach enzyme and greater mass, the alcohol breaks down faster. The women body is also made with more fat and less water, which slows the alcohol breakdown. Hormonal changes in women are also known to affect the result of the test.

Weight Affects The Result Of An Alcohol Detection Test

A person’s weight is also known to affect the result of the test greatly. A heavier person has more water content in their body. Alcohol moves faster in water, which dilutes it and makes you drunk at a faster rate. Different water and fat compositions in individuals are also factors as to why even with the same weight, two people will have different BAC results. A person with more water than body fat will have a higher BAC.

False Positives 

The limitation of testing kits is that it can sometimes detect false positives. There is alcohol content ingested, by they might not be from drinking alcoholic beverages. Food prepared with alcohol can return into a false positive.