How do alcohol urine tests work?

August 1, 2016 4:49 PM

I started an outpatient substance abuse program for alcohol today. My first urine test is tomorrow. I had one beer last night. Is that going to show up? And will they know it was only one beer or are alarm bells going to be ringing because any alcohol at all was detected?

I'm not worried about being kicked out or anything, but I told them the last time I drank was one beer a few days ago. It was after a half an hour of questions about myself so it either slipped my mind, or I fibbed unconsciously. After I realized, I was too embarrassed to correct myself.

I just don't want to start the program on the wrong foot and be seen as difficult or uncooperative. Thanks for any help.

posted by blackzinfandel to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

If I were in your shoes, I'd work up the nerve to tell them for my own sake, lest I get myself off on the wrong foot by subconsciously thinking I might be able to cheat the pee test.
posted by aniola at 4:57 PM on August 1, 2016 [9 favorites]

Best answer: A quick Google shows that an EtG urine test can detect alcohol consumption up to 80 hours afterward and is sensitive enough to pick up hand sanitizer and gasoline (both of which contain ethanol that can be absorbed through the skin) as well as the small amount in over-the-counter medicines like NyQuil.

If they are using that, and they probably are because the ethanol test, while cheaper, basically only reveals whether you have consumed alcohol right before the test, they will probably detect your beer.
posted by kindall at 5:02 PM on August 1, 2016 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm not trying to cheat anything, I'm just curious and a bit anxious. It's a voluntary program.

And I also saw that there were 80 hour tests, but I was more wondering if it would be accurate enough to detect that it was just one beer.
posted by blackzinfandel at 5:24 PM on August 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Mod note: A couple of comments deleted. Folks, the question is how sensitive are the tests, please stick to that. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 6:07 PM on August 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Lab tests come in one of two varieties, qualitative or quantitative. If the test is qualitative it will return either a positive or negative value. If it is quantitative it will return an exact measurement, which could be used to determine if it was just one beer or not. So.. maybe. (Sorry, no way to answer this without knowing exactly which test is being run)
posted by Apoch at 6:22 PM on August 1, 2016

Best answer: I'm not sure of your specific test, but where I've had a role monitoring people who are on alcohol monitoring programs, I haven't received a quantitative result, only whether the subject has tested positive for alcohol. And my understanding of the sensitivity of the ETG tests we use is that they are sensitive enough to show positive based on a beer consumed the night before.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:34 AM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: An EtG tests for a metabolite of ethanol - think of it like a test for what your body does with alcohol versus the alcohol itself. Yes, EtGs are more expensive than an ethanol test. For this reason some treatment programs test for it as a matter of course and with all UDS. Others might request an EtG on a case-by-case for a variety of reasons. The program may need to differentiate ethanol from a type of alcohol associated with poorly controlled diabetes. They have reason to believe someone is under-reporting their drinking and may need medically supervised detox in order to stop drinking safely. Others might request it automatically for specific clients at the request of drug courts or child welfare offices. It really depends on the program's policy.

Not disclosing 1 beer you drank before you've even started treatment is so, so not a big deal. People enter treatment because they can't stop using on their own and without help. It's quite normal and expected that UDS results will reflect recent use of the substance someone is seeking help to manage.
posted by space_cookie at 2:41 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]