Endogenous breath ethanol concentrations in abstinent alcohol abusers and normals

A highly sensitive gas chromatographic breath assay was used to measure the concentration of endogenous ethanol in the breath of fasting volunteers who had consumed no alcoholic beverages. Normal subjects (n = 15) were studied, as well as withdrawn hospitalized alcohol abusers (n = 13) who had abstained from ethanol for at least two weeks. The mean breath ethanol concentrations were 1.88 nmol/l (SD = 1.06) in the normal subjects and 17.84 nmol/l (SD = 8.81) in the abstinent alcohol abusers. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p less than 0.001) and could have arisen either from ingestion of exogenous ethanol (from sources such as tobacco smoke) or from metabolic differences between the two groups.