Pharmacokinetics of ethanol in saliva: comparison with blood and breath alcohol profiles, subjective feelings of intoxication, and diminished performance.

The concentration-time profiles of ethanol were determined for capillary blood, end-expired breath, and saliva after 21 healthy men ingested ethanol at 0.68 g/kg body weight. Near the time of obtaining body fluids, the volunteers estimated their feelings of intoxication, and body sway (with open and closed eyes), hand tremor, positional alcohol nystagmus (PAN), and roving ocular movements (ROM) were quantitatively recorded. The concentration-time profiles of ethanol in blood, breath, and saliva agreed well within individuals but there were large variations between subjects. The mean saliva-ethanol profiles ran slightly above those for blood and breath. Subjective ratings of intoxication and impairment of body function (standing steadiness and hand steadiness) were highest at the time of reaching the peak concentrations of ethanol in body fluids. PAN was evident in most subjects between 60 and 120 min after the start of drinking, whereas ROM appeared mainly during the postabsorptive phase of ethanol kinetics (120-420 min). The blood ethanol concentration thresholds were between 500 and 700 mg/L (50-70 mg/dL) when the diminished performance had recovered to baseline values.