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EtG Urine TestDetection Calculator

Estimate how long Ethyl Glucuronide stays detectable in urine based on drinks consumed, body weight, and test cutoff level.

Based on published EtG pharmacokinetic research · No login required

Estimates only — individual results vary. Not medical or legal advice.

EtG Detection Calculator

Based on pharmacokinetic research

Pharmacokinetic research basis·Updated Mar 2026·Free, no signup
Updated
Quick Reference

EtG Detection Window Summary

1–2 drinks
Likely Clear
~24–48 hrs at 500 ng/mL cutoff
4–6 drinks
Borderline
~48–72 hrs at 500 ng/mL cutoff
8+ drinks
Likely Detected
~72–96+ hrs at 100 ng/mL cutoff
FAQ

EtG Detection — Common Questions

EtG (Ethyl Glucuronide) is a minor metabolite of ethanol produced when your liver processes alcohol via glucuronidation. Unlike ethanol itself, which is detectable in urine only for 6–12 hours, EtG persists in urine for 24–80 hours depending on how much was consumed. This makes EtG a much more sensitive biomarker for recent alcohol use. It is widely used in sobriety monitoring programs (probation, drug courts, alcohol treatment programs), pre-employment and workplace testing, and clinical settings where recent alcohol use needs to be detected beyond the ethanol detection window.
EtG detection windows in urine depend heavily on the amount consumed and the test cutoff level used. For light drinking (1–2 standard drinks), EtG is typically undetectable at the 500 ng/mL cutoff within 24 hours. Moderate drinking (3–5 drinks) extends detection to 24–48 hours. Heavy drinking (6+ drinks) can result in positive results at 48–72 hours, and very heavy drinking (10+ drinks) may produce detectable EtG at 72–80 hours at the 100 ng/mL cutoff. These are averages — individual metabolism, hydration, kidney function, and liver enzyme activity all affect actual results.
The cutoff level determines how sensitive the test is. At 500 ng/mL (the standard cutoff used in most workplace and clinical EtG tests), the detection window is shorter — the test only triggers positive when EtG concentration is relatively high. At 100 ng/mL (used in strict sobriety programs like probation, drug courts, and some treatment programs), even trace amounts of EtG trigger a positive result, extending the detection window considerably. If you are subject to a 100 ng/mL test, your detection window may be 30–50% longer than for a standard 500 ng/mL test. Always confirm the cutoff level being used in your program.
This is a legitimate concern in sobriety monitoring contexts. Some studies have found that consuming products containing trace ethanol — such as certain mouthwashes (Listerine contains alcohol), hand sanitizers (if absorbed or ingested), fermented foods, and some medications — can produce low-level positive EtG results, typically in the 100–300 ng/mL range. At the 500 ng/mL cutoff, most incidental exposures do not produce false positives. At 100 ng/mL, incidental exposure from alcohol-containing products is a documented concern. Programs using 100 ng/mL cutoffs typically have protocols to evaluate reported incidental exposures.
Hydration does affect EtG urine concentration — drinking more water dilutes your urine, which can lower the EtG concentration below the detection threshold sooner. However, this does not eliminate EtG from your body; it only affects concentration in any given urine sample. Some testing programs are aware of this and may flag specimens with very low creatinine levels (indicating excessive dilution) as invalid or suspicious. Drinking water is generally healthy and may modestly accelerate clearing the detection threshold, but it is not a reliable method to defeat an EtG test.
EtG testing is highly specific for alcohol metabolism but is not infallible. Documented sources of error include: false positives from incidental ethanol exposure (see above), sample handling errors, laboratory testing variation, and the natural biological variability in EtG production between individuals. False negatives can occur if testing happens after EtG has fully cleared, or in individuals with unusually fast glucuronidation enzyme activity. For legal or compliance purposes, a positive result typically triggers a review process rather than immediate consequence — if you believe a result is in error, you can request a split-sample confirmatory test.
A breathalyzer or blood alcohol content (BAC) test measures ethanol itself — the alcohol molecule. These tests only detect active intoxication, and ethanol clears from blood and breath within 6–12 hours of finishing drinking (at a rate of approximately 0.015 BAC per hour). EtG testing detects a metabolite produced after ethanol is processed, meaning it can reveal that someone drank alcohol 24–80 hours earlier even when they are completely sober and show no ethanol. EtG testing is specifically designed to detect past drinking events, not current impairment.
This calculator is an educational tool built on published pharmacokinetic research. It is intended to help people understand how EtG metabolism works and how long alcohol consumption is detectable. It should not be used to defeat or circumvent legitimate sobriety monitoring programs, probation requirements, workplace testing, or any other compliance obligation. The estimates produced here are approximations — individual variation means actual detection times can be longer than estimated, particularly at the 100 ng/mL cutoff or with heavy consumption.
Background

What Is an EtG Calculator?

An EtG calculator estimates how long Ethyl Glucuronide — a direct metabolite of alcohol — will remain detectable in urine after drinking. Unlike blood alcohol content (BAC) tests that measure active intoxication, EtG tests catch past drinking events. They're sensitive enough to flag consumption that happened 24–80 hours earlier, long after any trace of impairment.

Ethyl Glucuronide forms in your liver as a byproduct of alcohol metabolism. Your body processes most ethanol into acetaldehyde and then acetate, but a small fraction gets conjugated with glucuronic acid to produce EtG. That compound gets filtered into urine, where it remains measurable long after your blood alcohol is zero. This makes the ethyl glucuronide calculator a useful planning tool for anyone subject to urine-based alcohol monitoring.

The results depend on four factors: how much you drank, how long your session lasted, your body weight, and what cutoff level the test uses. Change any one of those and your detection window shifts — sometimes dramatically. Our calculator models all four using pharmacokinetic data from peer-reviewed research, giving you a science-based estimate rather than a guess.

Details

How It Works

Guide

EtG Urine Testing: What You Need to Know

What EtG Actually Measures

EtG doesn't measure how drunk you were. It measures whether your liver processed alcohol at all. The compound appears in urine starting about 1–2 hours after your first drink and peaks somewhere between 3–5 hours after drinking ends. From that peak, it declines steadily — think of it as a slowly fading timestamp of the drinking event.

This is fundamentally different from a breathalyzer or blood alcohol test. Those tests tell you if someone is currently impaired. EtG tells you if someone drank at some point in the past 24–80 hours. Courts and monitoring programs use it specifically because it extends the surveillance window so far beyond ethanol itself.

How EtG Cutoff Levels Work: 100 vs 500 ng/mL

The cutoff is the concentration threshold above which a result is called positive. At 500 ng/mL — the standard cutoff used by most workplace drug testing panels and clinical labs — a light drinker (1–2 drinks) typically falls below the threshold within 24 hours. Even moderate drinking (3–5 drinks) usually clears within 36–48 hours.

At 100 ng/mL — the strict cutoff mandated in probation, drug court, SCRAM alternative programs, and many alcohol treatment monitoring contracts — the window extends considerably. The same 3–5 drinks that clear at 500 ng/mL within 48 hours may still be detectable at 100 ng/mL for 60–72 hours. Heavy drinking (8+ drinks) can push this beyond 80 hours. If you're on a 100 ng/mL program, assume your window is 30–50% longer than the standard estimate.

Factors That Affect EtG Detection Time

No two people metabolize EtG identically. The main variables are:

  • Drink count and type — More drinks mean higher peak EtG and a longer window. High-ABV drinks (craft beer, spirits, wine) produce more EtG per fluid ounce than standard-strength drinks.
  • Drinking speed — Faster consumption creates a higher EtG spike. Spreading drinks over many hours keeps the peak lower.
  • Body weight — Heavier individuals have larger blood volume, diluting peak EtG concentration per drink.
  • Hydration — Water dilutes urine EtG concentration. More urine output means lower ng/mL readings, which can shorten the detection window. It doesn't remove EtG from the body faster — it just reduces concentration in each sample.
  • Liver function and enzyme activity — Glucuronidation rate varies between individuals based on genetics, age, and liver health. This is the main source of real-world variation that calculators can't fully capture.

When EtG Tests Are Used

EtG urine testing is common in several contexts. Probation and parole officers use it because standard drug panels don't test for alcohol. Drug courts often require testing 2–3 times per week specifically because EtG's detection window catches drinking that would slip between less frequent tests. Alcohol treatment and recovery programs monitor sobriety compliance. Some employers in safety-sensitive industries — transportation, healthcare, heavy equipment operation — include EtG in post-incident and random testing panels.

The key difference across programs is the cutoff level and testing frequency. If you're in a program, confirming both details matters more than any estimation tool. But this EtG detection time calculator can help you understand the basic science and roughly how long a given drinking event stays detectable.

Use Cases

Who Uses This EtG Urine Test Calculator?

People under probation or court-ordered alcohol monitoring use this tool to understand detection windows before a scheduled test. Knowing whether a weekend event might still show up on a Monday test — and by how much — helps with compliance planning.

Individuals in alcohol treatment programs sometimes want to verify what they've been told about how long EtG lasts. Understanding the science behind the test helps people take the timeline seriously rather than relying on guesswork.

People facing pre-employment or occupational EtG testing may not know what cutoff level their employer uses. This calculator lets you run both 100 and 500 ng/mL scenarios and see the difference.

Healthcare providers and counselors working in addiction medicine or alcohol monitoring sometimes use tools like this to explain EtG pharmacokinetics to patients in plain language — going beyond the standard “alcohol can be detected for up to 80 hours” oversimplification to show how drinking amount actually affects the window.

Students and researchers studying toxicology, pharmacokinetics, or drug testing policy use this tool as a quick reference model to check calculations against published data.

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