Other causes of failed PEth test for alcohol abuse?

Good question, hope someone has an answer. I might try it out as the guinea pig and let you know. I have told my primary doctor that I have found non-alcoholic craft beer and he expressed little concern. Mouth wash and nyquil have more alcohol in them. Check out surreal brewing if you're interested in good non-a beer.

I can tell you there are at least a couple people on this forum I am confident were railroaded by bad PETH tests from LabCorp. Interestingly the two I am personally aware of both were tested at the same testing facility (in Dallas) but passed the exact same LabCorp tests at other testing facilities the same/next day. What I cannot tell you is if the issue is the LabCorp test or the test facility... but something with these tests are definitely wrong. I would strongly encourage you to go take the PETH again somewhere else (even if they use LabCorp as the backend) and compare the results. Depending on the timelines for doing so you can make the argument that it could have naturally fallen but if you are taking it close together - ideally the same day - it is pretty hard to argue something is not wrong wit the test. Of note there are also blood-drawn (e.g. using a vial vs a finger prick card) that also have produced good results for us while failing the LabCorp test. Request-a-Test as example does this test. PM me if you need more info or if you happen to be failing the test in Dallas as I would like to compare notes with you. I would also be interested in if you take the LabCorp test somewhere else and pass it on the same/next day if you have to take the test again.

I have taken several PEth test through request a test and they are awful! I had to explain to them several time that it is a blood test, as they wanted to test my urine for the PEth test. I haven’t drank in almost 2 years and my levels were 220!!! It’s completely insane. I’m 5’6 and weigh 110 pounds. If my levels were actually that high I wouldn’t be able to function. There is definitely something wrong with the PEth test as I have passed every other test you can possibly take regarding alcohol.

On 4 January I had a full work up minus a PEth test and was normal, CDT was normal but GGT was slightly elevated, Doctor had no concerns, 29 January I had an Ethanol blood test that was negative. Now on 7 Feb I had an EtG test that was negative but the PEth that day was 653? I would have had to have been binge drinking everyday in January and then some to have a level that high and would have been positive on at least one ethanol test. 653?!? Shouldn't I be dead?

I completely believe you. These testing folks are like a bad doctor: they think they know everything precisely because they don’t know what they don’t know. It’s a nightmare! Mayo, please help!!!

The manufacturer itself says that a level of 100 nag/mL represents two binge sessions per day for 30 days. How is that even possible???

In "theory" the PETH is not looking for the presence of Ethanol but rather the long-term biomarkers from it. If you believe the "theory" it would be entirely possible to pass an ETG with a few day look-back after not drinking near term but fail the PETH from "excessive" (and do not get me started on their baseline for that which is a couple drinks a day for a few days straight) drinking in the last 3 weeks.

I have read a lot about these tests and I think it is pretty clear they "may" have a value in proving (e.g. as a defense) total abstinence from Alcohol - but anything more than that is quackery... I personally think there is something very flawed with the test that is introduced in either testing or via some false-positive source that makes it only suitable to prove abstinence but not to prove guilt. They have little to know quantitative value (e.g. in proving how much you drank). The lack of independent objective testing and even LabCorps own disclaimer says a lot about the test...

Above all said - I watched a close family member fail these LabCorp PETH tests multiple times while not drinking. I had them start taking the same test at different test facilities - initially we found Request-a-Test which does a blood drawn PETH and they passed while failing the LabCorp one. As they continued to fail the LabCorp one I had the take the labcorp test at a different test facility also using labcorp. And watched them fail at the bad facility, pass at request a test, and pass at 3rd party LabCorp one. I do not have enough sample sets to in my mind prove the source of the fault but I can sure show something is screwy with the tests. The other person I know on this board having similar issues also had similar results (but only using labcorp and different facilities).

I am personally of the opinion more people need to take these tests multiple places (and ideally through multiple back-end labs) so we can build a big enough sample set to file a class action lawsuit against these people ruining people's lives with their sudo-science.

I do not remember what it was my family member had to tell request-a-test each time (so the people doing the draw could find the test in their computer) but agree they have a lot of problems in actual finding the PETH test in their system as most of their drug/alcohol testing is urine. It confused them nearly every time to do the PETH.

As for their test itself - all I can say is they passed every test at request a test from the blood draw, failed 80%+ at bad facility one using the finger prick LabCorp, and passed 100% of the ones at good facility using LabCorp. I will also advertise the methodology used between the two LabCorp collection places varied in subtle but possibly important ways.

I will take you at truth you failed the blood drawn one at Request-a-Test and should not have. That was not our experience - but we had plenty of experience with the fingerpricks at a specific test facility using LabCorp and false positives.

As I stated in several my other posts - I do not believe the PETH proves you drink. I think it has some false positives for specific things and thus is not accurate in proving you drank. I do think passing a PETH may prove you did not drink. ut that is not what the people sending people down for these tests are looking to do with it... and thus they are miss using it.

What I struggle more with is even if you accept the test as flawed in what it uses to "prove" alcohol use - why is the tests are not consistent in showing the same thing when taken on the same day using different and in cases the same methodology?

Where did you read that? I've been searching. I'm trying to compile some data on the test results to show how inconclusive they are. Everything I've found contradicts what some other article states regarding PEth levels.

For example, one article I found says that 100–500 ng/mL is a "very low" positive and could result from Previous heavy drinking (1–3 days), previous light drinking (12–36 hours), recent “extraneous exposure”.

However, another article states that "A positive PEth result is a reading of over 20ng/mL or above. This is equivalent to excessive alcohol abuse. It is considered that a result of over 100ng/mL is very strong evidence to suggest heavy binge drinking." It also says that Research has indicated that a PEth test can differentiate between incidental exposure (such as hand sanitizer) and the intentional consumption of alcohol.

So which is it? And where did this mystical 20 ng/mL cutoff come from? and if that is the "positive" cutoff how can 100 ng/mL be "very low positive"? This test is bunk. I am too new to this forum to be able to post the article links....sorry.

The 100-500 levels you’re quoting refer to the urine EtG test not the blood-based PEth test.

The 20 ng/mL cutoff is completely arbitrary. In Europe the cutoff is 35 ng/mL. Since the test purportedly can measure down to 0.0 ng/mL, spotting people that 20 ng/mL is the FOR-PROFIT manufacturers’ mendacious way of admitting that they really don’t know everything about PEth or how (and the conditions by which) it’s formed.