PEth Testing False Positives
Description
Experts assert that there is no such thing as a false positive DBS PEth test (Dry Blood Spot Phosphatidylethanol). PEth is a biomarker determining alcohol consumption and false positives have caused loss of life, careers, and custody battles. The PEth test is non-FDA approved blood test. The researcher hypothesized that a false positive was possible. The researcher abstained from alcohol for 30 days, then donated five blood samples, on the same day, at a USDTL lab. Each sample submitted provided a different name and number to avoid bias at the lab, but confirmation that all blood samples were from the same person as identified by the methodology of gathering the sample. Sample 1 was a whole blood PEth (WB) sample. Sample 2-5 were Dry Blood Spot PEth (DBS). Samples 1-3 that indicated there was no alcohol consumption, however, tests 4 and 5 indicated positive tests, associated with exessive alcohol consumption. In that all samples came from the same human on the same day within a five-hour period, and three of the five samples confirm no alcohol consumption, this indicates false positives do exist. The significance of this research is that people are unjustly losing their careers, child custody, and their lives if removed from a donor list, because of a false assertion of alcohol consumption.
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Steps to reproduce
Select any human to abstain from alcohol consumption for at least 30 days. Provide five blood samples from the same individual: One whole blood draw, one capillary blood draw for a DBS PEth test drawn per USDTL standard operating procedures, and three capillary blood draws for DBS PEth tests that are manipulated contrary to the USDTL required process. Use the following guidelines for each sample as identified below: 1. Intravenous whole blood, following standard USTDL testing protocol, 2. Fingerpick to obtain a capillary blood draw for a DBS PEth test following standard USDTL testing protocol, 3. Fingerpick to obtain capillary blood for a DBS PEth test following standard USDTL testing protocol except for: a. Folded the card prior to placing into the drying box. 4. Fingerpick to obtain capillary blood for a DBS PEth test not following USDTL standard protocol by: a. Using hand sanitizer, b. Not wiping the first drop of blood, c. Pressing the finger onto the test strip, and d. Folded the card prior to placing into the drying box. 5. Fingerpick to obtain capillary blood for DBS PEth test not following USDTL standard protocol by: a. Using hand sanitizer, b. Not wiping the first drop of blood c. Milking the finger, d. Pressing the finger onto the test strip, and e. Folded the card prior to placing into the drying box. Place all sample individually into a cardboard box, and place box into a cabinet for shipping. Ship the samples to the USDTL labs for PEth analysis.