[MissKristen317]

No!! Lol I went to the mall and tried out different perfumes and obviously because Im a girl I use hairspray. ..which contains alcohol. I didn't use alcohol at all.. I have just seen how sensitive the test is and how many people get false positives. It even says in some places not to use hand sanitizer, eat things made with alcohol in them, and use perfume. I swear I haven't had a drink. I'm paranoid that I will get a false positive because of these things because the I've heard. Yes I am an alcoholic but this time I really didnt drink. I'm doing this for custody of my child. I wouldn't drink. Look up how many times people have gotten false positives because of these things.

It's good to know that I might still be able to use perfume and hairspray based on what you said about using alcohol in your foods all the time, because hairspray is one thing I can't live without lol

[smoothy]

Just don't buy any mouth wash with alcohol... there are versions of all the good brands and even store brands without it. Meant primarily for kids... but also good for people in your situation too and those who have sensitive gums.

Now as far as the food things... might be wise to avoid certain cakes and pastries that have certain types of booze infused into them AFTER they are baked. Those can get you into trouble pretty easy.


But things like spagetti sauce etc... essentially most of the alcohol cooks off, and what tiny amount remains is minute.

[DrBill100]

It's good to know that I might still be able to use perfume and hairspray based on what you said about using alcohol in your foods all the time, because hairspray is one thing I can't live without lol

Kristen,

Some hair spray contains very high amounts of alcohol (at or above 90%) and should be noted as either ethanol, alcohol or SD40. These products pose a real and ever present danger in EtG testing and the danger lies in inhalation of the vapor. This phenomenon was first elucidated by Dr. Skipper in 2005. While it is largely a matter of timing, inhalation of vapors at the level of 62% abv can cause EtG to spike between 700-800 ng, well above even the 500 cutoff. Therefore, I would recommend switching to a hairspray that is not alcohol based.

Perfumes. This was tested by a pharmacy doctoral student, Molly Starkey at Mercer Univ. These too can cause positive EtG at a lower level but above a 100 ng test cutoff. This result seems to be explained by inhalation rather than transdermal diffusion but the latter can't be ruled out. Once again, timing is a key factor of use. But the use of hairspray and perfume would have an additive effect extending the window of detection.

Small amounts of alcohol in food, even trace amounts due to fermentation or the remaining alcohol not cooked off in food preparation will also create detectable levels of EtG. This was thoroughly tested by Musshoff and associates through the German Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Trace amounts of alcohol, as little as 1g consumed orally will spike above the level of detection on an EtG test with a cutoff of 100 ng, as demonstrated by Thierauf (see below).

Finally, none of the causes outlined above would result in detectable levels of alcohol (EtOH) in urine but will create detectable levels of EtG/EtS.

Ethylglucuronide G. Skipper, MD

Musshoff, et al (2010) Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate in urine after consumption of various beverages and foods—misleading results? International Journal of Legal Medicine, Volume 124, Number 6, 623-630,

Thierauf, 2009 Urine tested positive for ethyl glucuronide after trace amounts of ethanol Addiction. 2009 Dec;104(12):2007-12.

[smoothy]

However since she did this one night and had the test 5pm the next afternoon, and consumed no other alcohol... it should have metabolozed from her system.