Today's drug testing is more advanced, my question is can alcohol be ditected for more than 24 hours in urine?

If you drink enough, it's still in your system and may show up in urine. They say that 48 hours is safer, being well hydrated is helpful too.

There will probably be no alcohol in urine 24 hours following the last drink. However, Ethylglucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) testing have been rapidly increasing since 2004.

EtG/EtS are the molecular residue of alcohol metabolism and stay in the system after the alcohol is gone. Depending upon the amount of alcohol consumed EtG can be detected for 3-4 days (heavy chronic drinkers) and EtS, in smaller amounts, for slightly longer. There is wide variation in how long these breakdown products remain in a specific individual and depends on a multitude of factors. But as example, one drink (1.5) is detectable in urine from 6-30 hours (ave. 18). I believe it's safe to say that 3 drinks will show up on the EtG after 24 hours in most cases.

Bear in mind, it isn't alcohol that is being tested for, rather it's evidence that alcohol was in the subjects system within the recent past. EtG/EtS have no value in determining level of impairment and are used almost exclusively in total abstinence settings, ex. Treatment programs, court orders, probation screening, etc.


You can learn more about EtG from the doctor that introduced the test in the US at
http://ethylglucuronide.homestead.com/FAQ.html#anchor_163