Most industrial accidents and deaths in car accidents in the United States are caused by alcohol abuse. Being a legal substance consumed by most of the population, its abuse is widespread and requires certain organizations to do their own testing in order to curb some of its negative effects.
The demand for new and better testing methods to detect alcohol use is increasing, with institutions ranging from small town schools to multinational corporations making more of an effort to detect problems by random testing and screening. While the most common means used are the breathalyzer and saliva tests, for their simple and non-invasive process, blood and urine tests can also be performed. There is also hair testing which is a fairly recent method of alcohol screening.
Alcohol Testing Methods
The five most common alcohol consumption tests are: blood, saliva, breath, hair, and urine tests. Each has its own peculiarities which we'll discuss below.
The Blood Alcohol Test
The most invasive method of testing for alcohol, this test directly measures the alcohol content in a person's blood. The test is relatively expensive and makes it possible to determine the degree of a person's intoxication, to know if they stayed within the legal limits or abused the substance. Despite the invasiveness, there are some limitations to the test. It cannot determine things such as the time the person drunk or how addicted the person is to alcohol.
The Saliva Test
Effective for up to a full day after consumption, the saliva test looks for alcohol in the saliva of the person which would indicate alcohol use. Because of the ease, low-cost and non-invasiveness of the procedure, it is usually performed by institutions such as companies to test their workers. The results are very quick and usually as good as that of a blood alcohol test.
The Breathalyzer Test
Used mostly by law enforcement to check drivers for intoxication, the breathalyzer test is performed with a handheld device which can provide results instantly. The portable device checks for alcohol on a person's breath as a way to determine their overall blood alcohol and intoxication level.
The Urine Test
Regarded by some as the most convenient method, the test will usually check for alcohol in the urine. This method is effective for a couple of hours after ingestion, though depending on the amount consumed could show results for up to two full days. Newer tests check for ethyl glucuronide which is a result of alcohol consumption and can be detected up to four days after the ingestion of alcohol. The newer methods are important since fermentation within the body could generate a false positive when checking directly for alcohol, such as in cases of diabetes.
The Hair Test
While hair testing has been around for a while, it only started being performed to check for alcohol in 2008. The hair acts as a historical record of a person's alcohol use, showing their usage pattern over many months instead of just the last couple of hours or days. This is very useful to deal with people suffering from substance addiction problems.
