title: Alternative sampling strategies for the assessment of alcohol intake of living persons.
abstract: Monitoring of alcohol consumption by living persons takes place in various contexts, amongst which workplace drug testing, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving licence regranting programs, alcohol withdrawal treatment, diagnosis of acute intoxication or fetal alcohol ingestion. The matrices that are mostly used today include blood, breath and urine. The aim of this review is to present alternative sampling strategies that allow monitoring of the alcohol consumption in living subjects. Ethanol itself, indirect (carbohydrate deficient transferrin, CDT%) as well as direct biomarkers (ethyl glucuronide, EtG; ethyl sulphate, EtS; fatty acid ethyl esters, FAEEs and phosphatidylethanol species, PEths) of ethanol consumption will be considered. This review covers dried blood spots (CDT%, EtG/EtS, PEths), dried urine spots (EtG/EtS), sweat and skin surface lipids (ethanol, EtG, FAEEs), oral fluid (ethanol, EtG), exhaled breath (PEths), hair (EtG, FAEEs), nail (EtG), meconium (EtG/EtS, FAEEs), umbilical cord and placenta (EtG/EtS and PEth 16:0/18:1). Main results, issues and considerations specific to each matrix are reported. Details about sample preparation and analytical methods are not within the scope of this review.
authors.affiliation: Federal Public Service Justice, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kummer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Willy E E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Federal Public Service Justice, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nele
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Samyn
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: christophe.stove@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Christophe P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Stove
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001826:Body Fluids; D059788:Dried Blood Spot Testing; D006801:Humans
keywords: Alcohol; Dried blood spots; Dried urine spots; Exhaled breath; Hair; Meconium; Nail; Oral fluid; Placenta; Review; Skin surface lipids; Sweat; Umbilical cord