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Estimated ethanol and toxic alcohol serum concentration
Estimated ethanol and toxic alcohol serum concentration
Alcohol ingested
Volume ingested
mL
Alcohol concentration (% by volume)
%
Body weight
Complete the fields above to see the result.
When to use
- Estimating a worst-case peak serum concentration after a known-volume alcohol ingestion when a measured level is not yet available.
Formula
Concentration (mg/dL) = [volume(mL) x (%/100) x specific gravity x 1000] / (Vd x weight(kg) x 10). Specific gravity: ethanol 0.789, methanol 0.792, ethylene glycol 1.113, isopropanol 0.785. Vd: ~0.6 L/kg (ethylene glycol ~0.65).
Pearls and pitfalls
- Assumes complete absorption and no metabolism, so it overestimates the true measured level - use only as a ceiling estimate.
- A measured serum concentration always supersedes this estimate.