Hi, My son is on probation for not taking a breathalyzer test last month of his senior year in college. He is in his 6th month of being an assistant GM at a fitness club (He is a rec major). He took a urine test a month ago and drug test was fine, they sent it to a lab and it came back positive, he was beside himself. He was adamant he did not drink anything, although he consumes a fair number of monster drinks. He also works out 4-5 times a week and consumes more water than a resting individual. They use sanitizers all day long to keep the equipment clean, in addition he uses hand wipes to sanitize his hands as he greets customers and clients. The level was I think low 500/mg and their tests have a cutoff of 100mgs. Could this be a result of incidental contact.

Thanks,

Probation for what? Surely not working at a gym.

The sanitizes contain alcohol. This is why he tested positive.

ma0641

As I mentioned in the first sentence of my post for not taking a breathalyzer test.

Thanks for the response

J_9

I believe you are right, everything so far points to incidental.

I am going to ask for an MRO interpretation.

Thanks for the answer.

I know I am right. I work in healthcare and use sanitizers frequently. There is,even a simple method to turn these hand sanitizers into a form that is ingestible. I've seen it done by a patient.

J_9
I like your response, this could be a class action problem. The Probation Officer could not explain the report to me, I have a copy and would like to have it reviewed using his daily work protocol. I also just found out each day before he reports to the Gym, he uses a hair Gel which I read contains Alcohol. He does this each day.

Who would I reach out to for a review of the report.

Unfortunately this is not a class-action issue. It is the responsibility of the person subject to random testing to read labels. It was you son's responsibility to be sure that he was not using any products containing alcohol such as mouthwash, hair gel, hand sanitizer, cologne, etc.

You don't reach out for a copy of the report, your son does. They may or may not provide it.

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Hi My Son is on probation for not taking a breathalyzer test...

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Originally Posted by ma0641

Probation for what? Surely not working at a gym.

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As I mentioned in the first sentence of my post for not taking a breathalyzer test.

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No, failure to take such a test is not in itself a crime, and thus he wouldn't be on probation for that. He is on probation for being convicted of some sort of a crime, perhaps for driving and refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test while doing so (i.e.: violation of an "implied consent" statute)?

Sorry, no class action, this is a well known issue of the test. (common result)

I think, the one issue was they asked why he was on probation. Being in high school, is not a reason for a breath test, so we have to assume, he did some criminal act, such as DUI or other, that would have required him to take the test. Then the failure could have resulted in probation.

Assuming he is not really drinking (sorry, but parents are often really the last to know) yes, the use of these products can easily cause a failure.

He will need to wear protective gloves when cleaning and use other and cleaning methods.

Ive been given UA's for jobs & for criminal probation. They always make you wash your hands with water (no soap). Then you dry your hands, provide them with a sample & wash your hands. The chance of getting alcohol from sanitizer or soap into a sample is not to high. If he really didn't drink anything then that's just another reason why ETG/ETS tests are a little unreliable. It is pretty easy to get a false positive urine test, which is why they prefer blood for court over breath or urine. There have been reports of eating certain sugary ice treats & even very low calorie diets (ketotic diets) giving you false positive breath tests.

Anything that contains alcohol can cause a positive on an ETG, that's why people that are undergoing regular testing are told to refrain from using products that contain alcohol.

Hand sanitizer, cough medicine, mouth wash, and the list goes on and on. There is most definitely a chance of failing because of using one of these products, or using anything that contains alcohol, even if it's not ingested.

If I were your son, I would document everything that I came in contact with that could trigger a high enough level to fail this test and submit it for the probation officer/court. They may make him retest, before they take action, so its important to correct his habits and make adjustments. Seldom is there corrective action/punishment for a first fail, and you mentioned none, so if that's the case, he should do whatever he has to do make sure any subsequent test has a passing level now that he has new FACTS to guide him.

Wearing gloves at work and changing products after careful screening will save him a lot of frustration in the future. The bottomline is doing his part to prove his due diligence, and willingness to correct his mistake (ignorance is NO excuse), instead of an adversarial approach like proving the unreliability of the test, or blaming it on lack of information.

Most courts and probation officers are very willing to give second chances if they get honesty and co operation, and no attempts at deception, and I am sure this will be the case with your son. Now that he knows better, he should strive to do better.