What is ETG and what does it test for?

Ethyl Glucuronide (ETG) is a metabolite of ethyl alcohol which is formed in the body by glucuronidation following exposure to ethanol, such as by drinking alcoholic beverages. It is used as a bio-marker to test for ethanol use and to monitor alcohol abstinence in situations where drinking is prohibited, such as in the military, in professional monitoring programs (health professionals, attorneys, airline pilots in recovery from addictions), in schools, in liver transplant clinics, or in recovering alcoholic patients.

ETG can be measured in urine up to approximately 80 hours after ethanol is ingested. ETG is a more accurate indicator of the recent exposure to alcohol than measuring for the presence of ethanol itself.

Testing Urine for:

ETG (ETHANOL, ALCOHOL, ETHYL GLUCURONIDE)

What is required to carry out this test?
All the drug tests are simple to use and only involve taking a sample of urine. Results are accurate and rapid (in 5 minutes).

When should I do the test?
This test can be carried out at any time. To perform the test:

1. Remove the test strip from the foil pouch (do not break the seal of the foil pouch until you are ready to begin the test).
2. Using a plastic cup, obtain a urine sample from the individual who is being tested.
3. Carefully dip the testing strip into the urine sample, ensuring that the urine does NOT go above the MAX LINE. Allow the test to absorb the urine for about 10-15 seconds.
4. After 15 seconds, remove the test from the urine, lay the test strip on a clean flat surface while the test lines develop.
5. You can read negative results as soon as they appear but positive results must be read at least 5 minutes after removing from the urine. All results should be read within 10 minutes, otherwise a false reading may occur.

Results

To read the results of your test you will need to do the following.

When looking at the test strip you will see a pink/red coloured line just below the test handle. This is the Control Line (C). The next line that may or may not appear below the control is called the Test Line (T).

The control line (C), has to show as this confirms that the test strip has worked properly.

If no control line appears the test strip hasn’t worked properly and you may need to do a further test.

A second pink/red coloured line below the control line, no matter how faint, should now appear. This is a negative result. If no further line appears below the control line then the individual has tested positive for that drug of abuse.

What should I do with the results?

If you obtain a negative result then the person tested has none of the tested drug of abuse in their body at this time. You may want to re-test again in a month’s time. If you obtain a positive result then a drug of abuse has been detected in the urine. You may want to do another test later, or at a further date to confirm the result.

For full instructions on how to use these tests click here.