Hi Dr. Bill,

Last Thursday (Thanksgiving) I had about 10 drinks over a 12 hour period. Friday I had about 15 drinks over a 12 hour period ending about Midnight on Friday. On Saturday my BAC was 0.00 at 4:30 pm. I am a 130 lb. male with a relatively high metabolism. I have an ETG test tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 p.m. Is there any chance I can pass? Is there anything I can do between now and then to help my chances? I believe the cutoff is 100 but may be 250. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.

As I understand the drinking and time span you have a 5 day interval, between BAC = 0 and the test.

If so, you should pass. There should be no EtG in your system

Thanks so much for your quick reply, I really appreciate it.

One more question Dr. Bill: Yes that would be 5 days, or 120 hours. You mentioned I should pass - is this more of a relatively sure outcome, or more of a questionable one? Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.

Originally I posted a response directed to another person. If that is visible anywhere please disregard reference to Moore study and other information as contained therein.

In relation to your question, your clearance time should be in the range of 90 hours (Beck, 2007) While one study (Helander, 2009) reported one drinker amongst detox patients at 130 hours, that finding was clearly erroneous and should have never been included.

The work of Wojcik & Hawthorne put it best. "The '80 h Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) test' has become an idiom of the alcohol testing community, a review of the literature shows this window of detection applies only to extreme cases."

I view any EtG test as questionable. All I can tell you is that you should pass the test based on all available research to date.