How Long does Alcohol Stay in Your System?

It is common knowledge that alcohol is eliminated from the system at a rate of 0.015 ml per hour. There is only one conclusive way of finding alcohol in the body, which is through bodily fluids like bloodstream or urine.

This is also the reason why alcohol can show up in blood even after 12 hours, that is the next day. To understand, how long does alcohol stay in your system, you must understand your habits.

What is the Testing Process for Alcohol in the Body?

EtG which is also known as Ethyl Glucuronide is a chemical compound that indicates the presence of Ethyl Alcohol or C2H5OH in blood. It is an important factor for the rehabilitation of alcohol addiction in patients. And, every person processes alcohol at a constant rate of about one standard per hour. But, there are several factors that can cause differences and influence this rate. And, depending on this time for which an individual can feel the effects of having too much alcohol can persist, varies. 

These include age, habit, gender, body composition, overall health, and more. A very common way to understand this is by comparing it between men and women. For women, the after-effects are much lesser than men, while men can take up more alcohol than women for the same effect. So, to figure out and predict how long alcohol stays in your system depends on several factors here. 

The Big Concern for Alcohol Stay in the System 

If the amount of alcohol is pretty high and it does not eliminate on its own, there may be concerns. Many people have a long night of drinking habits and the alcohol will remain the system for more than a day. It is important for them to know if the alcohol consumed on a Sunday will show up at work on Monday, and so on. On average and taking normal metabolism into action, it takes about an hour to decompose one standard drink. Now, what is a standard drink? 

In the US, a standard drink is equivalent to 14 grams of nit alcohol or pure form. Just to make a comparison, 12 ounces of beer will have approximately 5% alcohol while 5 ounces of wine will contain 12% alcohol. So, one can clearly tell that wine has more alcohol content than beer. Now, to determine how long alcohol will stay in the system, and it can be detected also depends on which kind of drug test you take. Here are some facts,

• Bloodstream drug tests can detect alcohol even after 12 hours. It is because blood eliminates alcohol at 0.015 per hour.
• Urine drug tests can detect alcohol up to 3 to 5 days after consuming alcohol. An EtG test is a superior testing process. 
• If testing a hair follicle, alcohol also finds traces in it that can last for as long as you have hair. It can last for up to 90 days, if hair strands still are available.

In short, there is no definitive answer to this question as a variety of factors starting from body physiology can alter the time.