Unable to rely on alcohol tests in occupational health, says Professor

So You can’t trust the said PETH alcohol test, says Professor of Technical Chemistry at Åbo Akademi and Umeå University Jyri-Pekka Mikkola.

PETH tests have become more common in occupational health in Finland. Blood tests can be used to describe alcohol consumption over the previous weeks. PETH is an abbreviation for phospatidyletanol, which born Only when there is ethanol in the body.

Mikkola, who lives in Sweden and Finland, has followed the discussion of the tests in Sweden, where Peter testing has « exploded in his hands ».

Tests rose to the heads by force last spring when the country’s Finnish Transport Agency Transportstyrelsen shelved Driving licenses based on test results.

Mixed In Sweden and in Finland, 0.3 micromoly phosphatidyl tthanol in a liter of blood has been considered the limit of high alcohol consumption in Finland.

For example, in the midst of a driver’s license, the Swedish Transport Agency has said that to reach the risk limit, you should drink either 28-42 glasses of wine or 21-28 cans of strong beer per week.

Mikkola disagrees. He is another writer recently in published In a scientific article on PETH tests that has not yet been peer-reviewed.

According to the professor, the key problem of the test is that the PETH value becomes disproportionately high if the alcohol has been consumed a little more at a time.

PETH values ​​can be twice as big if a person drinks a bottle of wine one night for about four hours, compared to it if he or she divides the same bottle for two evenings and drinks it in a total of six hours, says Mikkola.

According to Mikkola, it is not difficult to reach the 0.3 micromolics limit.

« If there is a small woman, it’s under a bottle of wine, if you are a bigger guy, then it is maybe one and a half bottles of wine. »

Oulu university’s internal medicine emeritus professor Markku Savolainen Again keep the PETH test reliable. Savolainen is one of the authors in Duodecim Magazine’s PETH Test in the article.

PETH values ​​can only rise when alcohol is in the body, and the test reacts to alcohol in the body. In this respect, it is better than other alcohol tests, Savolainen says.

The Duodecim article states that exceeding the 0.3 micromolics limit refers to more than 60 grams of at least five doses of daily alcohol consumption. That’s a big amount, Savolainen says.

Savolainen considers it unlikely that the border should be crossed simply by drinking five doses of alcohol one day.

He confirms that the PETH value will rise faster if more alcohol is consumed at the same time, compared to the same amount, for example, for several days.

It is one of the reasons why Savolainen would not make diagnosis based on a single test result.

Mikkola says that when the PETH value has been high after one evening, it decreases slowly: in about a month, if not drinking alcohol at all, and in several months if you drink from time to time.

« Unless you are absolute, it is difficult for most to pass this test, » says Mikkola.

In addition, according to Mikkola, analyzing PEH values ​​is inaccurate and varies between analysis laboratories. The results of those who use alcohol equally can also vary due to genetic differences between people, says Mikkola.

Savonian says that it has already been identified in the past that PETH values ​​can decrease slowly if more alcohol has been used at once.

There are differences between people in how drinking affects PETH values, Savolainen says. 0.3 The limit of large microstal consumption has been set up on the average population, he says.

« What a limit is put, it is difficult, » Savolainen admits.

There is a lot of similar reflection in medicine, and healthy cholesterol levels, for example, are based on similar conventions, Savolainen says.

Laboratory results can always show at least a small analysis error, Savolainen says at a general level.

Mikkola In the opinion of PETH tests, it may be useful if they are used to monitor alcohol abstaining, for example before the liver transplantation. Savolainen agrees.

According to Mikkola, the test may also be supported if there is a strong suspicion of the patient’s alcohol use.

In his view, however, no alcohol test method can be used to measure the amount of alcohol used in a satisfactory way.

« The only option would be to make a surveillance society where a person’s phone or a camera would use what and how much a person drinks, » Mikkola says.

Savonian In the opinion of the PETH test, on the other hand, it is also useful for the potentially awakening effect of the result. At a relevant level, he can measure the amount of alcohol used at a relevant level.

« If at a high value, it was absolutely correct or wrong, you get a conversation with a patient who says that it will be used more than it was said, that’s a good thing. »

However, Savolainen again emphasizes that he would not make diagnosis alone based on one test. High results could be discussed in more detail about alcohol consumption and, if necessary, a new test later, says Savolainen.

Savolainen says, not take Carry on the legal side of the tests.