The Science Behind Blood Alcohol Urine Tests

Along with breath and blood tests, urine tests can be used by law enforcement officers to measure blood alcohol levels. Scientists have found that urine tests inaccurately measure concentrations of ethanol, but they do show whether alcohol is present. Urine tests can be unreliable for a number of other reasons, but law enforcement continues to use them as an alternative to the more typical breath and blood tests. Urine tests also can show the presence of other drugs besides alcohol. Like for blood testing, laboratories use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to detect ethanol levels in urine. Technicians run a sample through...

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