Who uses the 200 ng/mL cutoff?
200 ng/mL is the compromise cutoff. Treatment programs, clinical monitoring programs, and some employers and family courts choose it when 500 ng/mL feels too loose — it can miss light drinking entirely — and 100 ng/mL feels too strict — it can flag trace-level incidental exposure and keep clients in the window for days after a single lapse.
The research literature treats 200 ng/mL as a legitimate clinical threshold: studies comparing cutoff performance (Lowe and colleagues, among others) report results at 100, 200, and 500 ng/mL side by side, and programs pick the level that matches their goal. A treatment program tracking recovery wants to know about real drinking, including light drinking, without punishing a client for a splash of mouthwash. 200 ng/mL is built for exactly that balance.
If your program tests at a different level, use the matching tool: our 100 ng/mL calculator for probation and zero-tolerance programs, or our 500 ng/mL calculator for standard workplace screening. The same drinking gives a different window at each cutoff, and using the wrong one is the most common way people misread their risk.
How to read your result
Enter what you drank and when, and the calculator returns a modeled detection window — for example, 26–59 hours for four drinks. Read it the way the research supports: before the window opens, EtG from that drinking is most likely still detectable; after the window closes, it is most likely below 200 ng/mL. Between the two edges is the boundary zone, where individual biology decides and no honest calculator can promise an outcome.
The width of the window is not padding — it is the published science. EtG's elimination half-life is reported across studies at roughly 2 to 3 hours, and the calculator runs both published speeds, then adjusts for how much you drank, whether the drinking repeated over days, and how long the session ran. Below the result you will see the same estimate recomputed at 100 and 500 ng/mL, so you can see exactly how the cutoff changes the answer.
A 200 ng/mL scenario: Saturday drinks, test Tuesday morning
Take a treatment-program situation: four standard drinks at a Saturday gathering, last drink around 11 p.m., and a scheduled urine screen Tuesday at 9 a.m. — about 58 hours later. The calculator models four drinks at 200 ng/mL as roughly a 26–59 hour window.
At 58 hours, the test lands at the very top edge of the modeled window — the least certain place it could land. A faster-than-average metabolism or dilute urine could put the result below 200 ng/mL; a slower metabolism or concentrated morning urine could keep it above. This is the honest way to use the tool: the range tells you where the uncertainty sits, and a test scheduled right at the boundary is genuinely unpredictable, whichever edge you would prefer to believe.
Why no calculator can promise you will pass
Five variables sit between any estimate and your actual result: urine concentration (dilution), kidney function, the test method (immunoassay screening vs. LC-MS/MS confirmation), incidental ethanol exposure, and your individual metabolism. No web form can measure those, which is why no honest calculator reports pass or fail.
Be skeptical of calculators that output a single hour — "you will test clean at 47 hours." That number is an artifact of their chosen constants, not a measurement of you. Some competitors publish fixed ng/mL-per-drink figures presented as fact; the published literature supports ranges, and our methodology page shows exactly how this calculator builds them.
100 vs 200 vs 500 ng/mL at a glance
| Cutoff | Typical users | Detection window | Incidental exposure risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 ng/mL | Probation, courts, zero-tolerance programs | Longest — catches light and older drinking | Highest — trace exposure can register |
| 200 ng/mL | Treatment and clinical monitoring programs | Middle — catches light drinking, shorter than 100 | Moderate — heavy incidental exposure can matter |
| 500 ng/mL | Workplace, general screening, treatment monitoring | Shortest of the three — focused on meaningful use | Lowest — incidental exposure rarely matters |
Frequently asked questions
How long does alcohol stay detectable on a 200 ng/mL EtG test?
It depends on how much was consumed and how the program tests. At 200 ng/mL the window sits between the strict 100 ng/mL cutoff and the standard 500 ng/mL screening cutoff: a few drinks typically fall below 200 ng/mL within one to two days, while heavier drinking can remain detectable for two to three days. Enter your own numbers in the calculator above for an honest range.
Who uses the 200 ng/mL EtG cutoff?
Many treatment and clinical monitoring programs use 200 ng/mL as a middle ground, and some employers, family courts, and probation programs choose it when 100 ng/mL feels too strict and 500 ng/mL feels too loose. It is less common than 500 ng/mL in general workplace screening, but it is a well-established clinical cutoff.
Is 200 ng/mL stricter than 500 ng/mL?
Yes. A lower cutoff means a lower bar for a positive result, so drinking stays detectable longer and lighter drinking is more likely to register. At 200 ng/mL, the detection window for the same drinking is longer than at 500 ng/mL and shorter than at 100 ng/mL — that is the whole point of choosing it.
Will one or two drinks show up on a 200 ng/mL EtG test?
Possibly, for up to a day or so. One or two standard drinks can produce EtG levels above 200 ng/mL for roughly 12 to 24 hours, depending on timing, hydration, and individual metabolism. The 200 ng/mL level is low enough that light drinking is not automatically ignored the way it often is at 500 ng/mL.
Can hand sanitizer or mouthwash cause a positive at 200 ng/mL?
It is unlikely but not impossible. Studies of incidental ethanol exposure have produced positives mainly at 100 ng/mL; at 200 ng/mL the risk is lower, and at 500 ng/mL lower still. Heavy, repeated incidental exposure is the scenario researchers flag — ordinary hand hygiene on its own is very unlikely to cross 200 ng/mL.
Why does this calculator give a range instead of one number?
Because the published science gives a range. EtG's elimination half-life is reported as roughly 2 to 3 hours across studies, and individual metabolism, urine dilution, kidney function, and test method all shift real results. A calculator that outputs one fixed hour is manufacturing precision the research does not support.
Evidence and limitations
This page summarizes primary research and public-health guidance. Group-level findings cannot predict one person's result.
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