title: Alcohol congener analysis and the source of alcohol: a review.
abstract: For many decades traditional alcohol congener analysis has provided the concentrations of fermentation by-product congeners found in blood, to ascertain if the claims of an individual regarding the alcoholic beverage(s) they have consumed were feasible, assisting in cases where after-drinking is involved. However, this technique does not provide information on the exact alcoholic beverage(s) consumed. More recently, ingredient biomarker congeners specific to certain alcoholic beverages have been detected in blood, making it possible to identify the particular alcoholic beverage consumed and therefore the source of alcohol (albeit only for a limited number of beverages). This novel approach may reduce current limitations that exist with traditional methods of detecting fermentation by-product congeners, which restrict the use of alcohol congener analysis internationally and for other medico-legal scenarios. This review examines the forensic application of alcohol congener analysis in determining the source of alcohol and other techniques.
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, 57-83 Kavanagh St, Southbank, 3006, Australia. luke.rodda@monash.edu
authors: Luke N
authors: LN
authors: Rodda
authors: Jochen
authors: J
authors: Beyer
authors: Dimitri
authors: D
authors: Gerostamoulos
authors: Olaf H
authors: OH
authors: Drummer
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000032:analysis*; D000438:Alcohols / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001711:Biotransformation; D002423:Cause of Death; D003415:Crime; D004355:Drug Stability; D005285:Fermentation; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D015415:Biomarkers