How long does alcohol last in urine: time, norms

How long does alcohol stay in urine?

The length of time alcohol remains in the urine is determined by the following factors:

age, body weight, gender and physique of a person;
How much alcohol was drunk and consumed, the quality of the alcoholic drink and its strength;
duration of last drink and urination (ethyl is retained in urine)
amount of excess liquid used (not hot);
diseases that make it difficult to urinate.

The mucous membrane in women is thinner, so absorption occurs quickly, and alcohol is excreted in the urine much more slowly than in men, by 20-25%. With prolonged drinking, women lose up to 0.1 ppm per hour, and men - up to 0.15.

Older people and teenagers cope with alcohol worse than young and middle-aged people. The heavier a person, the less time alcohol remains in the urine and is excreted through the kidneys. Licorice contamination is more difficult for any body to absorb. A stressful state due to adrenaline contributes to a faster expulsion of hot.

Dependence of the time of cleansing the body on the strength of alcohol

The calculation of the time required to completely free the body from ethanol residues contained in urine significantly depends on the strength of the strong drink. Eg:

After drinking a bottle of beer, the effects will disappear after 3-4 hours.
Champagne (1 glass) will disappear after 1.5 hours, strong wine - after 2 hours.
Strong drinks have a slow elimination rate, which can take up to 2 days.

You also need to take into account your body type. In thin people, alcohol is excreted slowly. They remain intoxicated longer than overweight people.

Note : Since men's metabolism is faster than women's, their urine is cleared faster.

Rate of alcohol excretion from urine

Ethyl alcohol is the base of alcohol. When drinking alcohol, ethanol enters the stomach, travels throughout the body, and after a few hours begins to be processed and leaves the human body. The whole process is divided into three stages:

absorption (if it enters the stomach);
saturation (in tissues and organs through blood vessels);
elimination (urination, defecation, breathing and sweating).

The duration of alcohol excretion in urine ranges from 8 to 30 hours. Urine is completely cleared in a few days, and sweat, blood and milk - after 10-12 hours.

Alcohol elimination table

Alcohol may remain in the urine for some time, depending on the amount of alcohol you drink. For example, 400 ml vodka will completely disappear in almost a day, and a 0.5 liter bottle will disappear in two days. Interestingly, you won't find beer drunk in small doses quickly enough because it has a diuretic effect. But with 500 ml it takes 2.5 hours for complete weaning.

The table shows the time required for the decomposition and removal of alcohol of various concentrations. Dosage 100 ml.

These time frames are approximate as other parameters also affect the amount of alcohol in urine.

Table showing withdrawal time

The following table will tell you how long alcohol is retained in the urine, taking into account body weight and drinking 100 g of various drinks (beer, champagne, wine and stronger drinks).

According to the table, beer is eliminated quite quickly, since it is a strong diuretic. However, this drink is not drunk in 100 gram glasses. The smallest portion of foam is 0.33 ml, which means that the time of presence of alcohol in urea increases 3 times:

With a mass of 60 kg, dark beer will not be detected after 4 hours 20 minutes.
At 80 kg – after 3 hours 15 minutes.
At 100 kg – after 2 hours 38 minutes.

Diseases affecting alcohol excretion

Alcohol in urine lasts longer if a person has cirrhosis, hepatitis and other liver diseases, since it produces special enzymes that break down toxins and ethyl. And also many other diseases:

sexually transmitted diseases;
Diabetes;
problems with the thyroid gland;
heart and kidney failure;
IBC;
narrowing of the urethra;
prostate adenoma, sclerosis and prostatitis;
Balanoposthitis;
Obesity and hormonal imbalance.

The rate of aging of alcohol also depends on genetic predisposition. This is due to the hereditary transmission of liver diseases with weak enzymes.

Chronic alcoholism leads to the fact that alcohol remains in the urine all the time.

The norm of alcohol content in urine when determining the degree of alcohol poisoning

According to Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences, it is prohibited to drive a car while intoxicated, and Art. 12.27 s. 3 establishes liability for such a violation (if the presence of alcohol in the blood and urine is proven) and the norm for its permissible content.

The law sets a limit in ppm - 0.16 in exhaled air and 0.3 in blood.

According to the correct opinion of medical experts, there is no such thing as zero blood alcohol content. In case of abstinence, the analysis can show up to 0.13 ppm.

Everyone knows that many foods and drinks (for example, kvass, kefir, etc.) can increase this number, although this does not affect the degree of intoxication. Punishment in such cases will be undeserved.

In case of controversial situations: the product or analysis shows the presence of alcohol in the blood and the driver claims that he did not drink, an additional urine test is carried out. It takes much longer for alcohol to be eliminated in urine, and if the person has not been drinking, the alcohol index should be 0%.

How to speed up the removal of alcohol from the body

The alcohol content in urine depends on the volume and degree of alcohol consumed. It is impossible to say exactly how much alcohol leaves the body. But, knowing the acceleration methods, you can quickly remove ethanol. For this it is recommended:

drink a sorbent (activated carbon, Smecta, Atoxil), as well as a diuretic;
try to move and sweat more;
drink alcohol with clean still water;
go out into the air, if possible, walk;
take a cool shower;
eat before drinking;
visit a sauna or bathhouse if there are no restrictions on the cardiovascular system.

Methods that speed up body cleansing

Even a small dose of strong alcohol takes a long time to expel, so it is necessary to get rid of poisoning as soon as possible. There are several methods that speed up the detoxification of the body:

Clear the stomach by vomiting large amounts of water (only makes sense for a short time after drinking a hot drink, especially when combined with a heavy snack that consumes it)
take sorbents after emptying the stomach (for example, Almagel, Enterosgel, activated carbon);
cleanse the intestines of essential oils using an enema;
Drink plenty of fluids and urinate frequently (still mineral water, citrus juices and herbal infusions are recommended);
various diuretics can remove urine faster in the presence of ethanol (parsley with dill, oregano, corn silk, rose hips and birch buds);
brine helps balance salt and electrolytes, and fermented foods help liver function
Eating fruits rich in glucose and potassium (bananas, dates, etc.)
A warm shower will open the pores (in this case, toxins are removed by sweating);
physical activity promotes the active elimination of alcohol (they are equivalent to a simple walk, they ventilate the lungs in the fresh air);
The greatest, but not the fastest, effect comes from sleep.

Important: diuretics should be used with caution after consultation with your doctor. You should avoid tea and coffee (their effect is immediate, but the consequences are even worse). Poisoned vessels cannot withstand the abundant steam in the bathhouse and sauna; it is better to limit yourself to a warm shower.

Is drinking allowed before taking the test?

In order to make a correct diagnosis, reliable tests are necessary. The presence of even a drop of alcohol in samples can distort the data.

Note : Drinking alcohol 1-2 days before can negatively affect the test results. For the reliability of the information obtained, it is important that there is not a drop of alcohol in the urine or blood.

However, alcohol in an amount of 0.1 ppm can be detected even if the person did not drink at all. This reaction happens to kvass or kefir. Therefore, before taking the test, exclude alcohol from your diet, as well as kvass and fermented milk products.

Where is the concentration of alcohol higher - in urine or blood?

Depending on the time that has passed since drinking alcohol, the level of its concentration in urine and blood changes. During the absorption phase, which lasts three hours, alcohol moves from the gastrointestinal tract to the cardiovascular system. Thus, at the resorption stage, the concentration of ethanol in the blood is higher.

Then ethyl alcohol is oxidized and excreted from the body. At this stage (elimination), the concentration of ethanol in the blood decreases, and the concentration of urea increases.

The more time passes after drinking alcohol, the greater the difference between ethanol levels in urine and blood.

Often, after clearing the bloodstream of an alcohol-containing product, its presence in the human body can only be determined using a laboratory urine test.

Norms and acceptable values when testing for alcohol

Determination of alcohol in urine and blood is carried out at the request of law enforcement officers as part of the investigation of offenses. In most cases, the concentration of alcohol is recorded using a portable device. However, a citizen has the right to refuse to use it or challenge the results obtained. In this case, a blood or urine test is performed to determine the presence of alcohol. The determination period is from 6 to 12 hours from the moment of detention. But in exceptional cases it increases to a day.

Typically, police officers require a test for intoxication if the detainee behaves inappropriately, is uncommunicative, overexcited or inhibited, or has impaired speech and coordination of movements. An additional symptom is the smell of alcohol on the breath.

Even if the fact of alcohol intoxication is obvious, the presence of alcohol in the body must be documented (based on the results of the analysis).

There is no special preparation before donating urine. It is collected in a sterile container and handed over to laboratory staff. Drinking a large amount of fluid and diuretics can reduce the concentration of alcohol. However, this is not enough to prevent a urine test from detecting alcohol.

Ideally, alcohol should not be detected in urine. The permissible value is 0.1 ppm.

Like any laboratory test, urine testing has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the procedure is its accessibility and reliability for recording the fact of taking alcoholic beverages. In addition, ethanol is detected in urine even when it is no longer in the blood. The disadvantage of the study is that it does not allow us to establish the stage of intoxication. This is due to the individual rate of elimination of alcohol from the body.

A false positive result is also possible if a person has diabetes. The urine of diabetics contains acetone and glucose, which the device perceives as alcohol.

If alcohol is not detected or its value in the urine does not exceed 0.1 ppm, it is considered that there was no alcohol intake for 24-72 hours. Indicators from 0.3 to 1 ppm are called doubtful. It is impossible to confirm or deny the fact of use in such a situation. When 1 ppm of alcohol or more is found in the urine, the fact of intoxication is documented.

Methods for determining alcohol in urine

To prove or disprove alcohol poisoning, a test is performed that shows the amount of alcohol contained in a person's urine. There are many methods for determining ethyl alcohol in urine.

Gas chromatography. The biomaterial is closed in a test tube and tested under the influence of external factors. After this process, only the volatile components of urine remain. For laboratory research on special equipment - a chromatograph - the necessary reagents are additionally used. The most accurate results were obtained.
Widmark's formula - one of the most commonly used calculation methods in forensic medicine - is used to determine the theoretically maximum possible concentration of alcohols in urine using the formula C = A / m * k, where:

C—alcohol concentration (%);
A is the volume of pure alcohol consumed (g);
m—person’s weight (kg);
k - spectral coefficient (0.7 - male, 0.6 - female).

Alcohol dehydrogenase. A special enzyme contained in the liver and kidneys is responsible for the rate of breakdown of ethanol. Fast ADH promotes rapid breakdown and elimination and prevents the development of chronic alcoholism. Slow ADH is the opposite. This method is used in laboratory conditions.
Enzymatic methodology. The biomaterial placed in a test tube is tested in the laboratory. This method, by dividing into small fractions, helps to find enzymes that enter the urine when drinking alcohol. Their presence is determined by a special device - an analyzer.

There is a method for determining alcohol at home. This is a test strip that shows the concentration of alcohol in saliva, urine, etc. The ingredient on the strip reacts with ethyl alcohol in a similar way to test indicators for sugar. The results of this technique are almost as accurate as the results of laboratory tests. But equipment, reagents, specialist experience and various techniques provide the most accurate information.

Factors on which the speed of elimination depends

To determine the duration of ethanol retention in the body, the following indicators are taken into account:

Quality of alcohol.
Volume of drinks consumed.
Degree (beer and wine dissipate faster than vodka and cognac).
Volume of additional non-alcoholic liquid.
Physiological characteristics of the body (age, weight, gender, etc.).
The time of the last drink, as well as the last urination.
Diseases that prevent urination.

How long does it take for alcohol to leave the body?

Methods for determining the presence in urea

To find out whether there is alcohol in urine, laboratories use the following methods:

Gas (liquid) chromatography. During the research process, volatile components of urine are separated, which allows for a detailed analysis.
Method using enzymes. Practiced in drug dispensaries. Provides medical professionals with complete information.
According to Widmark's formula. This method allows you to determine the exact volume of alcohol contained in the urine.

Note : When there is no longer any alcohol in the circulatory system, traces may remain in urea. It is difficult to name the exact date for the complete removal of alcohol.

When can you drive again?

If you need to drive in the morning, then stop drinking alcohol the previous evening. But this does not give a 100% guarantee that alcohol will not be detected by the test device.