Evaluation of ethyl glucuronide, a minor metabolite of ethyl alcohol, accompanied by related cases

Determination of consumption of alcohol is high of importance in medico-legal cases. Accurate blood alcohol concentration, at the time of incident, might not be determined by routine analyses as time passes in cases such as occupational or traffic accident. In this respect, minor metabolites of ethyl alcohol are utilized in determination of alcohol intake. Furthermore, alcohol related studies have been recently directed to minor metabolites of ethyl alcohol. Ethyl glucuronide, ethyl sulfate, fatty acid ethyl esters and phosphatidyl ethanol are metabolites of ethyl alcohol which are used in practice. In this study, ethyl glucuronide is discussed and reviewed in the light of the literature by accompanying case reports.