How long is alcohol detectable in a person's body?

How long is alcohol detectable in a person's body?

Richard Saferstein (Former Chief Forensic Scientist) gives expert video advice on: What is forensic toxicology?; What is the legal blood alcohol limit for driving in the US?; How long is alcohol detectable in a person's body? and more...

That depends on how much alcohol you drink. For example, the for sale label in all states in the United States is .08%. A normal human being naturally eliminates alcohol at the rate of .015% per hour. If you reach a level of .08, you're going to figure that it's going to take just a bit more than five hours to eliminate the level of .08% blood alcohol that's present in your body. How long it ultimately takes to eliminate all the alcohol will depend on how much you have to drink.