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Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate in urine after consumption of various beverages and foods—misleading results?

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Abstract

Urine testing for ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is used to spot recent alcohol intake and is utilized to document alcohol abstinence. However, other possible sources of ethanol existed when special beverages or foods were ingested. EtG concentration curves in urine were measured after the consumption of non-alcoholic beers, fruit juices, sauerkraut, and matured bananas. Using a cutoff of 0.1 mg/l, positive EtG findings were revealed after the ingestion of a lot of non-alcoholic beer up to 13 h later, sauerkraut up to 5 h later, and matured bananas up to 3.5 h later. In German abstinence programs, subjects have to deliver a urine sample within 24 h after advice, and all participants are informed about possible misleading results caused by the consumption of certain beverages or foods. With respect to the present results, a 0.1 mg/l cutoff can be considered useful, and misleading results should not be expected from informed subjects within a 24-h waiting period.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all who have participated in the ingestion experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111, Bonn, Germany

    Frank Musshoff, Elena Albermann & Burkhard Madea

Authors
  1. Frank Musshoff
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  2. Elena Albermann
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  3. Burkhard Madea
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Musshoff.

Additional information

Frank Musshoff and Elena Albermann contributed equally to this work.

Electronic Supplementary Material

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ESM Fig. 1

Photos of bananas used for the ingestion experiments 2 (a), 4 (b), 7 (c), and 9 (d) days after buying. (JPEG 1103 kb)

ESM Table 1

Raw data of the experiments. (DOC 448 kb)

ESM Table 2

Examples for ethanol-containing foods and other products (see also [22]). (DOC 29 kb)

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Musshoff, F., Albermann, E. & Madea, B. Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate in urine after consumption of various beverages and foods—misleading results?. Int J Legal Med 124, 623–630 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-010-0511-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-010-0511-z

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