Prolonged Urinary Detection Times of EtG and EtS in Patients with Decreased Renal Function

Background The aims of this study were to investigate detection times for ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulphate (EtS) in urine samples of patients with decreased kidney function and to compare these with those previously reported for healthy volunteers. Methods Fourteen patients were included, each delivering 10 urine samples after a nonsupervised intake of 0.1 to 1.4 g ethanol/kg body weight. The urinary detection times of EtG and EtS in these patients were adjusted for doses and compared to previously published healthy volunteers. Results Detection times were significantly longer in patients with decreased renal function compared with healthy volunteers (p < 0.01 for both EtG and EtS). Conclusions Even after very minor alcohol intakes, these patients could fail alcohol tests based on the detection of conjugated ethanol metabolites for several days and wrongly be suspected of higher or more recent alcohol intakes than actually have found place.