Alcohol is not as easily detectable in hair as other drugs. Ethanol is present in all hair including those of teetotallers, however these traces are products of the environment. Simply being in a pub or laboratory is enough for traces of ethanol to find their way into the hair. So these traces of ethanol do not correlate to alcohol which has been consumed.

In contrast to other drugs consumed, alcohol is not deposited directly in the hair. For this reason, the investigation procedure looks for direct products of ethanol metabolism. One part of the alcohol reacts with fatty acids to produce esters. The sum of the concentrations of four fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are used as indicators of the alcohol consumption. Other FAEEs are also detected and may be taken into account in mitigating circumstances. The amounts found in hair are measured in nanograms (one nanogram equals only one billionth of a gram), however with the benefit of modern technology, it is possible to detect such small amounts.

As the hair grows, it absorbs special markers called fatty acid ethyl esters and ethyl glucuronide (EtG) into its structure, which remain in the hair indefinitely. These patented markers are only produced when there is alcohol in the bloodstream, and the more markers there are, the more alcohol you consumed.

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