Ethanol level in a blood test

Trebor

have got the results of a blood test for my father and am a bit confused about what one of the results mean.

it has Ethanol 32 mg%

does it mean 32 % of the blood is alcahol or is it 32 mg/ml of blood? and what is the normal level so that i can compare it.

does anyone have any links to a web site that could tell me. i have been searching for the last 2 hours but can't find one.

thanks

logic1

Originally posted by Trebor
have got the results of a blood test for my father and am a bit confused about what one of the results mean.

it has Ethanol 32 mg%

does it mean 32 % of the blood is alcahol or is it 32 mg/ml of blood? and what is the normal level so that i can compare it.

does anyone have any links to a web site that could tell me. i have been searching for the last 2 hours but can't find one.

thanks

It's usually measured in mg/dL (miligrams per decilitre)

And more than 0.1mg/dl indicates alcohol intoxication.

.logic.

Trebor

that's the problem it is in percent(%) and not in a measure, so i was wondering is 32% bad or good and how much alcahol would need to be consumed to get this level?

thanks

Caffine

im not sure what it means, but im pretty sure its not 36% of his blood is ethanol

ethanol is a VERY strong alcohol, that much in your blood and youd be dead. presume its just another way of writeing what logic said.

Tails

32mg/ml = 32g/l

there is 1000 grams in a litre so its 32 in a 1000

which equals 3.2% i think if your blood alcohol level is 32% you would be in intensive care!

Sarky

Well, Lemmy's blood is so full of crap he officially wouldn't survive a blood transfusion, and he's still living away...:)

GuanYin

Originally posted by Caffine
im not sure what it means, but im pretty sure its not 36% of his blood is ethanol

ethanol is a VERY strong alcohol, that much in your blood and youd be dead. presume its just another way of writeing what logic said.

if it was 36% ethanol in his blood then he'd be dead.

It looks like whoever administered the test and reported it back to you in that format without an explanation is an idiot.

It looks like it means mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.
which is the standard way of reporting it in blood and urine tests in this country.

36 is not very high.

I believe 80 is the legal limit, although don't quote me on that.

Trebor

thanks for the clear up guy.

sceptre

Originally posted by Tails
there is 1000 grams in a litre so its 32 in a 1000

1000 grammes in a litre of water

800 grammes in a litre of ethanol

Capt'n Midnight

ie. mg / 100ml (guess - don't quote me)

are you sure it was not 0/00 (ie. per thousand)

And they have to do it by weight

Take a 100ml graduated cylinder - with 80ml of water in it
Question - how much pure ethanol can you fit into it ?


RE: ethanol is a VERY strong alcohol - (!)
Q: What other type of alcohol do you drink ??

Now there is a substance - a dry white power in fact, which when water is added breaks down into Ethanol and CO2...
one could also argue that methanol is stronger 'cos it has more hydroxyl groups per volume / weight

DriftingRain

Actually 32 isn't all that bad. Blood Acohol's are called Ethanol levels in a lab. A fatal concentration is usually considered to be above 400 mg/dL. Comatose levels are around 300-500 mg/dL.But general signs of intoxication are in-between the ranges of 50-100 mg/dL.

You would have to know between the hours your dad drank then as a 70 kg man can metabolize 7-10 g of alcohol per hour. Hope this helps.