The breathtaking truth about breath alcohol readings of zero.
It has been postulated that the hangover state starts when breath alcohol concentration is zero.



Data from 2 studies that assessed ethanol in breath, blood and urine were compared.



The data revealed that ethanol may still be present in the blood and urine during the hangover state, despite breath analyser readings of zero.



As ethanol is still present in the body despite zero breath alcohol readings, the current consensus to postpone cognitive testing in hangover studies until breath alcohol concentration is zero should be reconsidered.
Utrecht University, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Utrecht University, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Swinburne University, Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: j.c.verster@uu.nl.
Joris C
JC
Verster
Utrecht University, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Marlou
M
Mackus
Utrecht University, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Utrecht University, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Aurora Jae
AJ
van de Loo
Utrecht University, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Nutricia Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Johan
J
Garssen
Utrecht University, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Swinburne University, Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Melbourne, Australia.
Andrew
A
Scholey
D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D001944:Breath Tests; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult
D000431:Ethanol
Alcohol; Blood; Breath; Ethanol; Hangover; Urine