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Ethylglucuronide, EtG, is a biomarker for recent alcohol use. The media has reported cases of people being accused of abusing alcohol because of a positive EtG test result, only to find out later the person was accidentally exposed to alcohol in a cleaning agent or hand cream. As with tests for other drugs, such as opiates and cannabinoids, when the cutoff level is too low a positive result due to accidental exposure is difficult to rule out.

For example, many years ago the cannabinoids test cutoff was 20 ng/mL to identify marijuana abuse. A number of instances were reported in the scientific literature of positives due to passive inhalation. The drug testing community responded by raising the cutoff to 50 ng/mL, to rule out wrongly accusing an individual of marijuana abuse. Similarly, the opiates test cutoff was 300 ng/mL to identify opiates abuse. When it was identified that poppy seeds in foods might cause a positive opiates drug test, agencies such as the Department of Defense raised the cutoff to 2,000 ng/mL. This improvement helped people avoid being wrongly accused of opiates abuse.

EtG is a biomarker of alcohol ingestion, but, definitive data about a reliable cutoff to differentiate between alcohol abuse and accidental exposure is still under investigation. Scientific literature reports that levels greater than 500 ng/mL are extremely unlikely to be caused by accidental exposure to alcohol.

Because of the concerns about accidental exposure to products containing alcohol, Ammon Analytical Laboratory has adopted a prudent approach to testing for urinary EtG. The screening cutoff for EtG is 500 ng/mL. All positive results are verified by repeat analysis and, by request, confirmed by an alternate scientific method, mass spectrometry. Thus, Ammon Analytical Laboratory provides a reliable means of identifying urinary EtG.

Similar to other laboratory tests a positive EtG result should be used as a sign of alcoholic beverage consumption. Reporting the result to a physician for further evaluation of the donor is important.

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