Light to moderate alcohol consumption is a normal part of many people’s lives. However, when situations such as divorce, custody battles, and probation come into play, individuals may need to take a break from drinking alcoholic beverages. Some people may try to get away with flouting their guidelines, but court-ordered alcohol tests can determine whether a subject has remained true to abstention. But how long does alcohol stay in your system? That depends on where you look.

In the Bloodstream

Testing for blood alcohol concentration is the most common way we detect alcohol consumption. The familiar breathalyzer test measures blood alcohol concentration within a 24-hour timespan. Breath tests are adept at detecting immediate alcohol consumption; however, because the body removes alcohol from the bloodstream relatively quickly, breath tests are not suitable for long-term testing windows.

In Urine

Even after the body has fully metabolized alcohol, urine tests will continue to show the presence of alcohol. There are two urine alcohol tests. A common urine alcohol test has a detection time of about one to eight hours from alcohol consumption, and is commonly ordered also with employment related testing. The urine EtG test has a longer detection time of up to 80 hours. The compound known as ethyl glucuronide (or EtG) is a byproduct of ethanol metabolization that the body excretes. This is more commonly used for personal situations.

In Hair and Nail

Hair tests can tell a long story when it comes to what enters the body. An EtG hair alcohol test can detect the presence of EtG over an estimated window of 90 days when performed on head hair. When labs perform the EtG test on a body hair sample, it can possibly go back even further than that. It is possible to detect six months or more of alcohol consumption in body hair. If hair testing is not an option, labs can test fingernail samples for the presence of EtG, which has an estimated detection time of three to six months. While hair tests with as much as a full year of results are available for drugs, this is not available for alcohol testing.

Note: If you feel you are getting a false positive alcohol test or ankle monitor, we can help. Thanks to the extended detection times, a hair or nail ETG test can be an extremely powerful tool in disproving a false positive report.

How long alcohol stays in your system depends on how quickly the body metabolizes it. This depends on a variety of factors, including weight, age, metabolic rate, and liver health. Generally, the body can metabolize about one standard drink per hour. However, while alcohol’s lifespan within the body itself is rather short, the body still retains remnants of that consumption, which advanced models of testing can ascertain.

Note: If you feel you are getting a false positive alcohol test or ankle monitor, we can help. Thanks to the extended detection times, a hair or nail ETG test can be an extremely powerful tool in disproving a false positive report.