Clinical background:
Determination of alcohol concentration is commonly used for measuring legal impairment, forensic purposes, diagnosis and/or treatment of alcohol dependency, as well as detection of alcohol poisoning.
Note: this immunoassay method is not suitable for analysis of post-mortem samples. Please contact the Duty Biochemist to arrange for GC-MS analysis of the samples.
Specimen container paediatric:
Serum (SST or plain tube)
Specimen container adult:
10 mL
Minimum volume paediatric:
10 mL
Minimum volume adult:
1 mL blood
Sample stability:
Samples are stable at 4C to be analysed within 5 days of collection. For prolonged storage, freezing of samples is recommended.
Availability:
24/7, analysed at RVI and Freeman
Factors affecting result:
Do not use alcohol or other volatile disinfectants at the site of venipuncture.
Not suitable for analysis of post-mortem samples.
Other info:
Lithium heparin plasma sample also acceptable