Family law professionals often ask how long Soberlink can detect alcohol. The short answer is that Soberlink works like any high-quality professional breathalyzer. It measures Blood Alcohol Concentration, or BAC, which reflects the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream at the time of the test.
*Note: This article refers to alcohol elimination using BAC per hour, the format most used in court and practitioner guidance. Scientific literature may express the same underlying process in other units (for example, mg/100 mL/h or similar mass-per-volume measures). These formats describe the same metabolic rate.
How long Soberlink can detect alcohol depends on how long alcohol stays in the human body, which is not the same for everyone. Alan Wayne Jones’ evidence-based survey on elimination rates shows that most adults eliminate alcohol at about 0.015 BAC per hour. Many fall in the 0.010 BAC to 0.025 BAC per hour range, and heavier or chronic drinkers may eliminate somewhat faster.
This means alcohol can remain measurable for several hours after consumption, and longer if the person drank heavily. Because of this, Soberlink can detect dangerous alcohol use throughout the day. When a schedule is set correctly, Soberlink will identify drinking that creates a safety risk for the child.
Main Takeaways
- Because every person absorbs and eliminates alcohol differently, there is no single universal answer for how long any breathalyzer can detect alcohol.
- Effective monitoring relies on well-structured testing schedules and agreements that prevent long gaps and align with real elimination rates.
- Education on elimination science and tools like Soberlink help courts interpret results accurately and ensure child safety.
It Is Not Only About How Long a Breathalyzer Detects Alcohol
The practical question in family law is not only how long Soberlink, or any breathalyzer, detects alcohol. The more important question is how well the monitoring system is set up to protect children.
Alcohol use is difficult to monitor. Parents can drink at different times, at different amounts, and in different patterns. A single reading, or one lab test, cannot show the full picture. Soberlink was built to solve this problem for family law.
Over more than fifteen years of use, Soberlink has paired a professional-grade fuel cell breathalyzer with:
- Written Level 1 - Parenting TIme Only and Level 2 - Daily Testing Monitoring Program Agreements that define how tests should be taken, how results are reported, and how concerns are addressed
- An AI-powered, Soberlink Advanced Reporting™ platform that timestamps and stores every result in a format the court can understand
- A Compliance team that can evaluate series of tests as needed and prepare certified records for legal proceedings
- Facial Recognition and Tamper Detection that further helps with providing certainty that, not only are the BAC levels accurate, but that the correct person is actually testing without manipulating the technology or results
These systems exist because the nature of alcohol’s elimination rates make it difficult to detect. The device alone is not enough. Soberlink gives courts a structure that matches how alcohol actually leaves the body and how parenting time is scheduled.
Educating family law professionals on these points is critical. When Soberlink is set up correctly, it becomes a reliable tool for child safety instead of a vague promise that “a breathalyzer is in place.”
What the Science Tells Us About Alcohol Absorption and Elimination
The Jones survey reviewed a large number of clinical and forensic studies on ethanol elimination.
Key findings that matter for family law include:
- Absorption happens before elimination: Once alcohol is swallowed, BAC continues to rise as it is absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. This absorption phase typically lasts 60 to 90 minutes, depending on factors such as the person’s size, food in the stomach, drinking speed, and total amount consumed.
- Elimination is mostly steady over time. After absorption, BAC tends to fall at a fairly constant rate within an individual.This steady decline is often called “zero-order kinetics.”
- Most adults fall within a predictable range. Many people eliminate alcohol between 0.010 BAC and 0.025 BAC per hour, with an average around 0.015 BAC. Heavy or chronic drinkers can have rates up to 0.025 BAC to 0.035 BAC per hour.
- The same drink does not affect everyone the same way. Body size, sex, liver function, and drinking history all affect peak BAC and the time alcohol remains detectable.
- Higher levels of consumption will increase the detection window. Someone who reaches a very high BAC will remain positive much longer than someone who had a single drink with food.
For attorneys, the takeaway is that there is no single fixed “X hours” answer that applies to every parent. Instead, courts should assume that alcohol may be detectable for many hours and should use a schedule that covers evenings, mornings, and custody exchanges. Soberlink’s schedule tools and program levels are built around this reality.
Why Correct Scheduling Matters More Than a Single Detection Window
Alcohol leaves the human body at a steady rate for each person. Because of this, monitoring only works when the schedule is structured in a way that prevents long gaps. The goal is to design a plan that matches how alcohol actually eliminates from the bloodstream so that drinking episodes cannot be hidden by timing.
Level 2: Daily Testing
Level 2 is Soberlink’s Daily Testing Program. It is designed when the court recommends full abstinence. The schedule is set up in the Level 2 Agreement and includes two to four tests per day, seven days a week.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), “Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.”
Therefore, someone who truly struggles with alcohol would not be “sneak one drink” between tests because, by definition, they would have an impaired ability to do so.
The Soberlink Level 2 Program’s daily structure makes it possible to detect andy dangerous levels of drinking that could impair parenting and deters those with a true Alcohol Use Disorder to attempt to drink. Because the tests are spread throughout the day, and because the elimination rate is predictable for most people, Level 2 provides consistent information about whether the parent is meeting a full-abstinence order.
Level 1: Parenting Time Only
Level 1 is the Parenting Time Only Program. A parent who has not demonstrated signs of an Alcohol Use Disorder may be allowed to drink when not with the child. However, they may still be required to prove sobriety for safety during and around parenting. In these situations, the testing schedule must still be designed carefully so the court receives reliable information when necessary.
This is why Soberlink created the Guide for Setting Up Successful Alcohol Monitoring Schedules. The Guide offers practical steps for planning a schedule that aligns with real elimination rates and avoids the blind spots that can occur when tests are too far apart. It explains how testing windows work, how many tests to schedule, how to handle overnight hours, and how to prevent gaps that could conceal dangerous drinking.
The Guide recommends:
- Testing windows of about two hours, such as 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM for a 1:00 PM test
- Three to four tests per day during parenting time when monitoring begins
- Careful attention to overnight gaps, since many high-risk episodes occur after the last test of the day
- Ensuring no gap exceeds ten hours, including overnight windows
This schedule design matches what the Jones elimination study shows. When BAC falls about 0.015 BAC per hour on average, a parent who drinks after a late-evening test can still show alcohol on a morning test. If the gap is too long, the morning test may miss the entire episode. With gaps longer than ten or twelve hours, even a significant binge episode may not appear at all.
Setting the schedule correctly is what gives Soberlink its effectiveness. The system can only detect what science makes detectable, and Level 1 and Level 2 are structured to match those scientific limits.
Side Note: Why Labs and Continuous Monitors Can Miss the Point
Random lab tests show a parent’s status only at the moment they appear at the lab. Drinking before or after the visit will not be documented and long gaps remain. This disqualifies lab tests as an option for parents who only need to prove sobriety around parenting time.
Continuous ankle bracelets and similar devices track around the clock, but they are designed for criminal and punitive settings. They also do not allow parents to test only during parenting time or to step down as trust improves. That structure can work against healthy family systems.
Soberlink sits between these extremes. It offers targeted, scheduled testing that aligns with parenting plans and still respects what the science says about elimination. This structure allows a parent to live a normal adult life outside parenting time while still giving the court concrete evidence that the child is with a sober caregiver.
When attorneys understand elimination rates and schedule design, they can tailor Level 1 or Level 2 to the specific case and adjust the structure as the parent complies.
How Retest Cycles Help Evaluate Positive Tests
A single positive test does not always mean alcohol was consumed. For example, a parent may have mistakenly used mouthwash right before a scheduled test. Although Soberlink’s agreements outline that parents must wait 20 minutes after eating, drinking anything other than water, or using products like mouthwash, accidents can happen.
Because of this, Soberlink has a built in retest-cycle that is used as a safeguard, giving Family Law professionals, parents, and the court to get the full picture of a positive test.
Both the Level 1 and Level 2 Agreements explain that the first test is treated as a screening test. If the screening test is compliant and the identity is confirmed, the result is reported as compliant. If the screening test shows alcohol, or if identity cannot be confirmed, a confirmation test is required, beginning the retest cycle.
Key points from the Agreements include:
- When alcohol is detected, the device blocks new tests for fifteen minutes.
- After that, the monitored client has a set period to submit a retest.
- If alcohol is still detected or the retest window is missed, the event is reported as a single non-compliant test.
- The monitored client may be required to submit up to six retests, or until the reading returns to 0.00 BAC.
Retesting serves two main purposes:
- Distinguishing contamination from consumption. Products like mouthwash or breath spray can cause a short-lived spike in BAC readings. The Jones study shows that true consumed alcohol declines only at a limited rate, often around 0.015 BAC per hour.
Contamination, by contrast, clears very quickly. When retests fall back to 0.00 within a short period, Soberlink can treat the episode as consistent with contamination. - Documenting patterns that match normal elimination. When a parent has been drinking, the series of retests usually shows a gradual decline in BAC that fits known elimination ranges. If readings drop faster than physiology allows, or rise again without any new drinking opportunity, the Compliance team can review the pattern and advise Involved Parties.
For courts, this means Soberlink does more than flag “positives.” It produces a sequence of data points that can be compared to accepted elimination science. That comparison helps attorneys and judges distinguish isolated product use from true alcohol misuse.
Using This Information in Practice
Taken together, the science and Soberlink protocols lead to a practical answer.
Soberlink detects alcohol for as long as alcohol remains in the bloodstream. The exact number of hours depends on the person’s metabolism, the amount consumed, and the starting BAC. Instead of relying on a single number of hours, family law professionals should:
- Use Level 2 when daily abstinence and higher structure are needed
- Use Level 1 when the focus is parenting-time sobriety rather than round-the-clock abstinence
- Follow the Level 1 Scheduling Guide and expert recommendations to avoid long gaps and cover high-risk times
- Rely on retest cycles and, when needed, Compliance team evaluations that compare results to normal elimination rates
With these pieces in place, Soberlink becomes a practical, court-ready system for keeping children safe, not just a simple answer to a difficult question.
Further Education for Family Law Professionals
To see how these concepts apply in real cases, and to learn how to build schedules that match your court’s goals, book a Lunch and Learn with Soberlink. The session will walk through sample Level 1 and Level 2 orders, review real-world schedules, and show how to align testing with known alcohol elimination rates so that children remain safe, regardless of how long a single breathalyzer can detect alcohol.