Alcohol is a legal drug that is used by many of us. Many people enjoy alcohol in a responsible setting, however in some situations it is desirable to restrict or control the use of alcohol. Employee drug testing for alcohol is commonplace nowadays and testing for recent alcohol use with a drug test is not uncommon.
While alcohol consumption is widely accepted in British society, it’s crucial to recognise the potential risks associated with excessive drinking. From health concerns to impaired judgement, the impacts can be far-reaching. That’s why many organisations are taking a proactive approach to alcohol management.
But how can you accurately measure alcohol intake? Enter the alcohol urine test – a reliable and cost-effective method for detecting recent alcohol consumption. This test offers a longer detection window compared to breath tests, making it particularly useful for workplace safety programmes and rehabilitation monitoring.
Let’s delve deeper into how these tests work, their advantages, and when they’re most appropriate to use.
An alcohol urine test is a medical screening where your urine sample is used to detect if you have consumed alcohol. Not limited to your urine sample, other parts of your body can be used to detect any alcohol that you have had – blood, saliva, and even your breath can also be used although with slightly different tests.
Why Test for Alcohol in Urine?
There are many reasons why this alcohol test is essential. Commonly it’s job-related, safety issues, and of course for people on their parole to keep them alcohol-free. Besides, alcohol is one of the most abused substances and it poses more danger as alcohol is legal without you needing to fill for a prescription.
As alcoholic beverage seems the norm in our society, one must think what alcohol tests are used for. Is it only for a simple detection and screening or to know if there are legally impaired employees? Whatever the reason is, you need to know why you are doing the test.
The ability of the alcohol urine test can vary, depending on certain factors (particularly time-wise, since it takes nearly two hours for the alcohol to be ingested before it gets detected). Plus, being inexpensive, easy to use, and reliable, an alcohol urine test is most commonly used to screen alcohol levels in their body.
With alcohol urine tests, any presence of alcohol in your urine sample can be detected within the 6 to 24 hours during which it is absorbed into your body, longer compared to other alcohol tests. The test is conducted by placing a urine sample in a sterile container. A chemical-detecting card is then placed in the sample will indicate if there’s any of the substance in it.
Although commonly used, there are certain limitations in this particular test, due to our metabolic pathway in digesting alcohol. The substance gets absorbed into your body within an hour after consuming it and later gets metabolised and eliminated in the urine. Since each of us has a different rate of metabolism, some may get detected quickly while others take a longer time. That’s where an extension of alcohol urine test is created to provide a more accurate result when necessary.
This particular test detects the byproduct of alcohol after it’s been metabolised by your body – called Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) – accumulated in the urine. This accurate test can be used to determine if alcohol that has been last consumed in a longer period of time, compared to standard alcohol urine test, much more accurate although it’s expensive.
Now the facts about alcohol urine test are straightened out, you may feel aware now that you know why you need to have the test.
Types of Alcohol Test Kits
Zoom Testing offers various types of alcohol tests – one is a saliva based alcohol test, the other is a urine alcohol test. A urine alcohol test is also incorporated into a 12 Panel Multi Drug Test Kit.
Photo by Akram Huseyn on Unsplash
Zoom Testing is a leading UK drug testing company and a supplier of Drug Test Kits.
