Alcohol, Blood

Overview
Department	Biochemistry
Test Code	ETH
Synonyms	Ethanol Ethyl Alcohol EtOH Balc Blood Alcohol C2H5OH
Base Lab Availability	Monday - Sunday, testing routinely available out of hours
Hawera Lab Availability	Monday - Friday, 8am to 4 30 pm
Turnaround Time	1 hour
Stability – Add test
Specimen Requirements
Specimen	Serum Plasma
Preferred	7 mL Plain Red-Top
Acceptable	In emergency 5 mL Li-Hep Green-Top
Unacceptable
Specimen Transportation
Paediatric Requirements	Li-Hep Microtainer
Aliquot Requirements
Sample	Plasma Serum
Preferred Volume
Minimum Volume	200 µL
Aliquot Transportation
Clinical Information
Reference Intervals	Legal limit 17 mmol/L blood for an unconditional license.  Note: These results are not to be used for legal purposes.
Test Method	Enzymatic, Colourimetric. Ci8200 analyser, Abbott Reagents.
Advanced Notice	Not required
Patient Preparation	Not required
Comments
Any Methanol in this sample will not be detected, if Methanol ingestion is suspected a Methanol analysis will need to be specifically requested.     Please contact the laboratory for further information regarding Methanol.

Owner	Clair Crossley (Crossley1)
Last reviewed	03.10.2025
Next review	03.10.2026 (Due soon)