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tori.beard06 · Feb 9, 2012, 09:33 PM

I am having a party this weekend but have a hair follicle test coming up. I haven't had alcohol in 5 or so months but plan to at the party. Will it show up in my test?

Eileen G · Feb 10, 2012, 02:35 AM

I never heard that alcohol shows in in a hair follicle test. In any case, alcohol is not illegal, so what if it does?

DrBill100 · Feb 12, 2012, 12:41 AM

Alcohol cannot be detected in hair, as Eileen G notes, however previous consumption is presumed by the presence of an alcohol metabolite, EtG*, and a cumulative combination of FAEEs**. Therefore, as a test for abstinence Hair Alcohol Testing (HAT)(1) is used. Mostly in Europe but more recently in US.

Will a few drinks show up in a HAT? Probably not. But the science in relation to incorporation of EtG and FAEE into hair is vague and imprecise. It is known that chronic consumption of 3 drinks or more per day can result in detectable EtG/FAEE in hair. Except as a diagnostic sign of chronic alcoholism the test seems useless.

1) Society of Hair Testing (SOHT)
*EtG = ethylglucuronide
**FAEE (myristate, palmitate, stearate, oleate, linoleate, and arachidonate)