ETG - Urine & Hair
BAT -Breath Alcohol Testing (DOT & Non-DOT)
Saliva
Alcohol / ETG Hair and Folical Testing

The Alcohol ETG Urine Test

For decades, simple urine tests and breathalyzers were used to detect if one has consumed alcohol recently, but no method was able to answer if one has consumed alcohol in the past 3 to 4 days. This is because alcohol dissipates itself from the system in a matter of hours.

Labs have come up with a new protocol, which is being tagged as “gold standard of alcohol testing” for it can tell if someone has consumed alcohol up to 80 hours prior. This latest method works on the concept of Alcohol Biomarkers.

Alcohol biomarkers are the physiological compounds that are produced when alcohol is metabolized by the body. They are used as an indication of consumption of alcohol. A direct biomarker is Ethyl Glucuronide (ETG), which forms the basis of this latest alcohol detection method, which is also known as The ETG test (Alcohol / ETG Hair and Folical Testing).

The Alcohol ETG Urine Test is a biomarker test that detects the presence of ethyl glucuronide in the urine samples. Actually, alcohol, when metabolized by the liver, forms ethyl glucuronic acid i.e. when someone consumes alcohol, in the liver, a compound called glucuronic acid reacts with it and forms Ethyl glucuronide as a metabolite. Alcohol dissipates within few hours but ETG particles remains in the system for as long as 80 hours.

This amazing sensitivity makes this method most suitable to be applied in a diverse array of situations to find illegal, long-term alcohol consumption. Since its implementation, this test has gained wide popularity & acceptance all across the globe.

This test is also conducted in the corporate world to profile the alcohol habits, and use of illicit drugs by their prospective employees.

This test can greatly facilitate alcohol detection in those individuals who are legally prohibited from consuming alcohol, either by the law or by their employer.

EtG Urine Testing Benefits:

•  Detect recent usage more accurately and for a longer time period compared with standard testing

•  Great for abstinence and zero tolerance circumstances, such as monitoring in alcohol treatment programs

•  Provide an accurate and reliable indication of alcohol ingestion within the previous 3 to 4 days

•  EtG is only detectable when alcohol is ingested and is not produced as a result of alcohol fermentation (medical conditions such as diabetes)

•  EtG test function as an early warning system that can identify relapse patterns

•  EtG tests can be accurate and reliable when performed by LC/MS/MS on state of the art equipment

Understanding Alcohol / ETG Hair and Folical Testing

The purpose of EtG alcohol hair testing is to determine whether or not the person is abusing alcohol or is alcohol dependent.

Ethyl glucuronide or EtG is a metabolite only produced when alcohol is in the bloodstream. It is identified as a marker in alcohol hair testing, through a patented analytical process that provides forensic evidence of the pattern of alcohol abuse - or absence of it. The more alcohol a person consumes the greater amount of EtG markers are present in the hair. EtG alcohol testing is unique compared to other alcohol tests in that it allows you to segment testing results into months instead of only days.

The courts recognize the presence of alcohol traces in human hair as reputable evidence in court. Laboratories have provided thousands of tests to the courts using quality processes in accordance with industry standards.

Features of EtG alcohol testing

• Hair collection is a simple, non-intrusive process. Human head hair grows approximately ½ inch per month. 

• We cut the hair close to the scalp and test the first 1½ inch from the root end. It takes hair approximately 10 days to grow from the hair follicle through the scalp to a level above the scalp accessible to scissors.  A hair analysis of a 1½ inches covers a time span of approximately 90 days, one to two weeks after consumption of alcohol.

Hair analysis also provides a greater challenge to applicants who try to cheat for a number of reasons:

• The applicant cannot replace his or her hair with someone else's.
• The applicant cannot adulterate hair by placing anything in or on the sample while in the specimen collection area.
• The collector takes the hair directly from the applicant and the sample is never out of the collector's sight.
• The applicant cannot eat or drink anything that will dilute or alter a hair sample.
• We often hear of people who strip, bleach, and re-dye their hair to its original color.  This may be effective if the applicant is an occasional user and his/her levels were at or near the cutoff.  In most cases, the cutoff level used by the more sophisticated laboratories is low enough that stripping the hair will not remove the entire amount of alcohol that has be deposited. 

REASONS TO USE Alcohol / ETG Hair and Folical Testing

• Prove someone does or does not have an alcohol problem.

• Segmentation of hair samples can determine patterns of abuse over a particular time period.

• Identify long-term alcohol addicts, offer help and improve treatment success rate-- an alcoholic's treatment can be monitored periodically as their hair grows

• Prove a parent is fit to have custody of their children because they show no signs of alcohol abuse.

• Identify an alcohol abuser in a safety critical job before you hire them.

• Prove someone is long-term abstinent and may be a candidate for a liver transplant, or other medical conditions.