How long does the fumes from different types of alcohol last, how to get rid of the smell faster

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• Is fumes harmful to others?
• Why does my breath smell after drinking alcohol?
• How long does the smell of alcohol on your breath last?
• What else affects the duration of a fume?
• How to get rid of the smell of alcohol from your breath
• First aid for hangover syndrome
• Bad breath after alcohol: pharmaceutical products
• Folk recipes
• Conclusion

After excessive drinking, a person will experience a foul smell of alcohol from his breath. The stench begins to fill the entire space around, making those around you feel uncomfortable. But you can encounter such consequences even after a glass of fine wine.

The problem arises - how to get rid of the smell of alcohol from your breath reliably , especially if you have trips and important business meetings ahead of you the next morning. Below are the most effective ways to drown out the stench from ended gatherings yourself, at home.

Is fumes harmful to others?

Typically, feasts last until late, and the resulting volume of alcohol consumed is significant. After this, the person is faced with a disgusting breath. The average duration of breath cleansing is from 10 to 15 hours. Sometimes the smell lasts for 2 days. The drinker reeks of fumes as long as his body contains toxic residues from the breakdown of ethanol.

The fume is harmless, but people nearby will experience discomfort . If there are small children in the apartment, then they should be taken to another room, since the smell of alcohol can have a bad effect on their sleep, especially if the child is just a baby.

For what reasons does fumes occur?

All alcoholic drinks contain a substance called ethanol. It comes in wine and ethyl varieties. Ethanol enters the body through the esophagus and then enters the intestines or stomach. Through the mucous membrane there is rapid penetration into the circulatory system. The alcohol is then carried to other organs and vital systems.

The breakdown procedure is activated an hour after drinking alcohol. This time is enough for transformation into acid. The components are considered chemical, so in the morning a person smells alcohol or fumes.

When waste products begin to move through the circulatory system, they can accumulate in the lungs. When a person exhales air, others may notice a foreign odor near the drinker. There are other physiological ways to remove breakdown products.

Why does my breath smell after drinking alcohol?

When ethanol enters the body in impressive quantities, a person develops a hangover syndrome. This condition has a lot of symptoms - headache, nausea, vomiting, fumes. Most symptoms are successfully relieved by special pills, but in the situation of fumes the matter becomes somewhat more complicated.

In general, the sequence of occurrence of an unwanted odor is described as follows.

1. Ethanol enters the body through alcohol (wine, cognac, beer - it doesn’t matter).
2. Next, ethyl alcohol is almost instantly absorbed into the blood, which distributes it throughout the organs and tissues - all without exception.
3. The body begins to cleanse itself, removing toxins that formed after the breakdown of alcohol.
4. The liver produces enzymes that help break down ethanol into metabolites.
5. Due to the remaining elements from ethyl alcohol, the drinker reeks of fumes. Alcohol metabolites move through the bloodstream, accumulate in the lungs and form that very smell.

note

If a person does not calculate his dose and drinks too much, then a disgusting smell will emanate from his entire body. The body eliminates alcohol metabolites through urine and sweat. After 10-15 minutes, a person who has had too much to drink begins to emit repulsive odor.

How do you know if there is fumes?

There are many testing options. Most of them can be performed without special equipment. However, there are two methods that are scientifically proven.

You can check freshness using the Helimeter. It is capable of measuring the amount of sulfites during breathing. When their level rises above 70 particles per 1 billion, this indicates the presence of amber.

If a person has doubts about the freshness of exhaled air, you can also use a breath test device. The device measures the amount of sulfur that comes out of the lungs when you exhale. Testing with the devices described is a rather expensive procedure and, in addition to monetary costs, requires time. Therefore, you can use proven folk methods that you can implement without leaving your home.

How long does the smell of alcohol on your breath last?

The period of emission of a disgusting odor depends on how much a particular person weighs and directly on the drink. For example, if a person weighing 100 kg drank 100 ml of 4% beer, then the alcohol will disappear from the body within 21 minutes.

If a person weighing 60 kg drank 500 ml of 40% vodka, then his body will emit a repulsive odor for 29 hours.

The full table with specific numbers is posted below.

The table below contains average statistical data on the duration of the fume that a person experiences after consuming popular drinks. The data is relevant for a person weighing 70-80 kg without chronic diseases.

Comprehensive measures

If simply masking the fumes is not enough and you also want to sober up as soon as possible, you will have to carry out a number of measures aimed at combating a hangover.

• First of all, wash the clothes you wore the night before. The fabric has absorbed sweat and breath with the smell of alcohol, it needs to be refreshed. Then work on restoring fluid balance.
• Alkaline mineral water . Drinking plenty of fluids will help quickly remove toxins through sweat and urine, and the beneficial substances contained in the drink will restore vitality. In addition to mineral water, you can drink hot drinks - strong black or green tea, natural coffee (preferably ground and freshly brewed) with sugar, rosehip infusion or sage infusion. For cold drinks, you can make citrus juice or water with freshly squeezed lemon juice and honey.
• to have a hearty breakfast in the morning after a stormy party . Eating food will help get rid of bad breath and give you energy. It is better to give preference to hearty food. Light breakfasts - porridge, yoghurt and cornflakes - are not suitable. But rich broths and soups will be very useful, as well as egg dishes: omelettes or fried eggs. During a hangover day, doctors recommend eating fresh vegetables, fruits and berries rich in potassium and vitamins - cucumbers, pumpkin, melon, apricots, watermelon, apples, strawberries, wild strawberries.
• To cheer up in a state of post-intoxication, you need to do exercises or go for a run . Physical exercise, especially in the fresh air, will speed up the metabolism, due to which the alcohol will disappear faster, and with it the fumes. After sports exercises, take a shower, preferably a contrast one. If you prefer a bath, take water no hotter than 40 °C. You can add some aromatic oils there.
• If you don’t need to rush anywhere in the morning, go to the bathhouse or sauna . The steam room will help quickly remove the smell of fumes. Just keep in mind that you can resort to such hangover relief measures only if you are 100% confident in the strength and strength of your cardiovascular system. If you have the slightest doubt, avoid the steam room.

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It is more difficult for smokers to get rid of the smell of alcohol: after each cigarette, the fumes return. So it is better to stop smoking .

If the intoxication is severe and your hangover can easily be called alcohol poisoning, drink 10–20 tablets of activated charcoal, do a cleansing enema with lemon juice or chamomile infusion, or induce vomiting. If you feel very unwell, call an ambulance immediately.

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What else affects the duration of a fume?

There are factors that have an indirect effect on the duration of an unpleasant odor. One of the most significant is age . Ethanol is eliminated faster from the body of a person under the age of 35, since at this time his health is quite strong due to his youth. Such an organism has a normal metabolism, so the rate of elimination of ethanol metabolites is higher.

Other factors include the following.

1. Floor. Men get drunk more slowly than women; alcohol leaves the male body much faster. In women, the rate of elimination of ethanol breakdown products is 20% less.
2. Weight. The lighter the drinker, the slower the breakdown products of ethanol leave his body. On the contrary, overweight people suffer less from the consequences of a hangover.
3. Diseases. When chronic diseases are diagnosed, the duration of ethanol breakdown increases, and the repulsive odor from the mouth lasts longer.
4. Use of medications. If a person is on drug therapy for a specific period of time, drinking alcohol is highly discouraged. Otherwise, the hangover will last longer, and the consequences for the body will be worse, including the duration of the fume.
5. Amount drunk. The more intoxicated a person is, the longer the disgusting smell will emanate from him. And on the contrary, if you drink nothing at all, then soon there will be no trace left of the unpleasant smell.
6. Eating snacks. In order for the fume to disappear in the shortest possible time, you need to drink in one gulp. If a person drinks in small sips and always has a hearty snack between them, then the absorption of ethyl alcohol into the body will slow down, and its elimination will take much longer. As a result, the duration of the fume will be maximum.
7. Quality of drinks. High-quality alcohol does not give off such a persistent bad smell as second-rate drinks.

Also, the duration and persistence of fumes depend on a person’s lifestyle, but to a lesser extent than on the reasons listed above.

What factors have an impact?

All people have different physiological characteristics. Alcohol may be excreted differently in each person. The intensity of fumes is influenced by various factors:

1. The amount of alcohol consumed. If a person has consumed a lot of alcohol, the bad breath after drinking alcohol will not go away for a long time.
2. Strength degree. Low alcohol drinks are eliminated several times faster, unlike cognac. It is important to remember that the quality of the alcohol is an additional factor.
3. Weight. Thin people get drunk faster, but they have a harder time coping with a hangover.
4. Age factor. A young body easily tolerates hangover . This is due to fast metabolism. As it ages, it slows down, making alcohol fumes more difficult to dissipate.
5. The presence of chronic diseases. To find out how long the smell of alcohol from the mouth lasts, it is necessary to take into account pathologies. If the liver is damaged, this organ will not be able to quickly remove all toxins and cope with the breakdown of ethanol.
6. A woman's body is considered more sensitive, unlike men. They get drunk faster.
7. Treatment with medications. Medicines affect the body and individual internal organs. During drug therapy, it is difficult to determine the duration of vapor removal. There are medications that help quickly remove ethanol, while others, on the contrary, inhibit this process.

It is important to pay attention to the snack

When a person not only drinks, but also eats high-calorie foods, the fumes will be persistent and will last a long time. There are generally accepted standards for understanding how long the fume will last when drinking vodka. These are averages and may not be accurate depending on various factors. Data is given in hours and minutes for men and women.

How to get rid of the smell of alcohol from your breath

The difficulty is that it will not be possible to kill the stench in a short time - you will only be able to muffle it for minutes using certain means. The fume will disappear only when the toxic substances of ethanol breakdown leave the body. , you should not rely on auxiliary

The following remedies can help reduce bad odor:

• fruit-flavored chewing gum: do not buy mint chewing gum, as together with the fumes they can cause an unpredictable effect;
• mouth freshener spray;
• coffee beans;
• dry cloves;
• lollipops;
• greens, berries, citrus fruits, as well as crunchy foods - apples, peppers, cucumbers;
• cinnamon;
• bitter chocolate;
• sunflower seeds;
• bay leaf;
• carnation;
• ginger;
• citrus peels;
• nutmeg;
• flaxseed or nut oil - 150-200 ml is enough.

Some products - for example, herbs (parsley, dill) or coffee beans - themselves have a persistent and not pleasant smell for everyone, which will have to be taken into account.

Do not forget about thoroughly cleaning the oral cavity, using special mouth rinses - all this also has a certain effect.

Use a glass beaker

The fastest and most affordable way is to use a regular glass glass. It should be clean and at room temperature. It is enough to exhale lightly into the glass with your mouth and smell it almost immediately. The smell of fumes in this case is not only easily detected, but also visualized - the walls of the glass usually sweat.

If you don’t have a glass at hand, you can exhale into any clean vessel or container, even into a small plastic bag.

This method is so effective that it is often used by traffic inspectors when there are no other methods for determining whether a driver had been drinking the day before or not. The glass is most often used.

First aid for hangover syndrome

The smell of alcohol actually comes from the lungs. Therefore, it is necessary to help the body promptly remove alcohol. How to get rid of the smell after alcohol? For minor intoxication, the following methods are relevant.

1. Drink plenty of fluids. You need to drink regular boiled or mineral water. The volume of liquid should be up to 1.5-2 liters. As a result, the urinary system will begin to remove metabolites from the body faster.
2. Physical activity. It is recommended to take a walk in the fresh air for at least half an hour. In the apartment it is necessary to keep the window open. Breathing exercises are useful: hyperventilation effectively cleanses the lungs, and the smell of fumes weakens. It is enough to take quick and deep breaths for 5-10 minutes, after which the first results will appear.
3. Sauna, bathhouse. Due to the hot steam, sweating increases, and the remaining alcohol is eliminated faster. But if you have diseases of the cardiovascular system, it is recommended to stop in the shower, alternating dousing with hot and cold water. Water procedures cleanse the pores of the skin surface and rid the body of toxins.

Borderline conditions

In most cases, hangovers and fumes go hand in hand.

In most cases, hangover and fumes go hand in hand. But there are individual deviations from the rule, depending on the state of health and individual tolerance to alcohol. Let's consider two situations.

If your health is poor, damage to the body from alcohol toxins will affect your well-being for much longer. There is no longer acetaldehyde in the blood, the direct cause of ailments and fumes, but damaged organs take a long time to recover, simulating an ongoing hangover. That is, the person is still feeling bad, but there is no fumes.

The opposite situation is observed if the body is strong and the functional state of the internal organs is at its best. Restoration of well-being occurs quickly, and the toxin that is not completely removed from the blood does not affect the general condition in any way. In this case, there is no longer a feeling of a hangover, but the fumes remain.

It is in such situations that it is necessary to determine the presence of exhaled incriminating evidence, and at home, using available means and the olfactory abilities of relatives or neighbors.

How to quickly get rid of fumes at home?

Folk recipes

There are several traditional medicine recipes that will help freshen your breath.

1. Throw 60 g of mint leaves into 500 ml of boiling water, cook for 30 minutes.
2. Steam 40-45 g of white alder, infuse the raw material for 30 minutes.
3. Pour 50 g of dry wormwood with 200 ml of water, bring to a boil, simmer for 5-8 minutes over low heat.

Rinse thoroughly with the prepared broth . The duration of the procedure is at least 5 minutes.

Pay attention to the language

The tongue is extremely sensitive to alcohol, so if you have any doubts about the presence of fumes, you can carefully examine its tip in the mirror. If it is covered with a thin white coating, then this clearly indicates the presence of acetic acid and other elements of the breakdown of ethyl alcohol in the breath. That is why, to eliminate the odor, it is recommended not only to rinse your mouth, but also to clean your tongue with a soft pad on the back of the toothbrush. If there is none, then just a toothbrush.

Available ways to independently determine fumes

There is an opinion that the wearer can determine the aroma of a hangover independently by breathing into folded palms or somewhere else. This is a misconception - it is impossible to immediately determine your own fumes using the sense of smell, since the receptors are accustomed to this smell and perceive it as absolutely normal. But if you make some adjustments, you can rely on your own sense of smell. You need to play on olfactory contrasts. It's done like this.

1. You need to lock yourself in a small room without ventilation, a bathroom, for example, and “breathe” well there. Then go out into the fresh air (yard, balcony) and breathe fresh air for about ten minutes. You return back to the fume determination room. In contrast to fresh air, it will not be difficult to determine the characteristic smell, if it exists, of course.
2. The following test will help you understand whether there are signs of a hangover in your breath or not. This is the most proven method, for which you do not need your own sense of smell. It's simple - take a dry glass glass and breathe into it. A heavily fogged glass will indicate the presence of fumes. If there is practically no moisture deposit, rest assured - the release of acetaldehyde from the lungs has ended and you don’t have to worry about the quality of your breath.
3. If you don’t have a glass glass at hand, you can probably find a transparent plastic bag at home. The testing procedure is similar - you need to inhale 2-4 times into the bag (the number of inhalations depends on the volume of the “device”). The result is assessed in the same way - by fogging of the walls.

Important! The results of the above tests are valid at temperatures from +18 degrees, that is, at room temperature and above.

Using the above methods for determining fumes, you can find out if you have even a slight odor. Tests with a glass and a plastic bag are based on the fact that much more moisture is released along with alcohol toxins than during normal breathing. These methods can fail only in one case - if the test person has an elevated body temperature due to illness. With significant hyperthermia (above 38 degrees), the walls of the glass or bag will also fog up.

“Breathe” in a closed room

Everyone has probably noticed that in a room in which a drunk person was sleeping, after just a few hours there hangs such a persistent “amber” from fumes that a sober person cannot be there.

To use this method, you must first use a small room, such as a bathroom. Secondly, after breathing a little in it, you must definitely go out into the fresh air, for 2-3 minutes, into the entrance or onto the balcony. And after returning to the “inhaled room”, the person will be able to smell the fumes.

Popular questions and answers

Psychotherapist and narcologist Timur Mamedov answered typical questions about fumes

How long does the fume last?

This is individual and largely depends on the amount of drinking and the characteristics of the body. But most often – about a day.

How can you mask the smell of fumes?

The fumes can be masked with the same pungent odor. Many people use menthol cigarettes, mint gum and candy for this. But they don't really camouflage. It just gives the acetaldehyde scent a hint of mint.

Fumes from vodka, wine and beer

Different remedies help with the odors of different alcoholic drinks.

• So, to cope with a strong vodka fume, you should use brewed coffee, drinks based on it, or beans. It is also very good to chew fresh herbs after vodka - cilantro, parsley or yarrow. Take a large bunch of herb and chew it without swallowing for a few minutes. After this procedure, fresh and pleasant breath will be provided to you for the near future.
• The best way to remove aroma from wine is with activated carbon. Take the tablets at the rate of 1 piece per 10 kg of weight with plenty of clean water. To speed up the process, crush the same number of tablets in a mortar, dissolve in water and drink the resulting drink. Crushed charcoal will begin to act much faster.
• The unpleasant odor that appears after drinking beer is best masked with citrus fruits. You can squeeze juice from oranges, tangerines, lemons and grapefruits and drink it. It's also good to eat the whole fruit. During the day, drink water with the addition of lemon slices or freshly squeezed juice - this will help restore tone and energy and restore water balance.

How to cover up the smell of fumes

But if it’s really important for you to smell at least a little less terrible, then you can try to beat the fumes. To do this, you need to eat, chew or hold something that smells sharp in your mouth. Try any of these folk methods of dealing with fumes. For greater effect, you can use several different products in turn.

1. Chew:
2. chewing gum (preferably fruity gum, because a mixture of mint smell and fumes can lead to an even more terrible aroma);
3. fresh or dried herbs (bay leaf, mint leaves, parsley, dill, lemon balm);
4. coffee beans;
5. spices (cinnamon, cloves);
6. nuts (nutmeg, walnuts, almonds);
7. roasted sunflower seeds;
8. Refresh your mouth:
9. brush your teeth and tongue;
10. rinse your mouth with toothpaste or mouthwash;
11. use a refreshing mouth spray;
12. rinse your mouth with lemon juice;
13. use lollipops or Anti-police spray;
14. suck on any mint candies (Holls, Mentos or others);
15. rinse your mouth with a decoction of medicinal herbs (sage, alder, St. John's wort, wormwood, and so on).
16. Refresh yourself completely:
17. take a shower (sweat also contains acidic breakdown products of alcohol and many people notice this);
18. put on fresh clothes (not yesterday’s clothes, saturated with the smells of the feast).
19. Eat and drink:

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• fermented milk drinks;
• strong tea or coffee;
• chocolate;
• citrus.

Parsley and other similar products stop the fumes for a very short time.

What to eat so as not to smell like fumes?

If you have time before going to work, a hot, satisfying meal will help relieve hangover symptoms and eliminate the unpleasant smell of fumes. Traditional Russian soups will have a good effect: cabbage soup, borscht, rich chicken broth with vegetables.

In the Caucasus, to relieve the consequences of a feast, khash is used - a rich hot decoction of beef legs, head meat and other offal. According to the method of preparation, it resembles a decoction for jellied meat.

Liquid meals rich in protein substances trigger metabolism and enrich the body with amino acids.

A good hangover cure is scrambled eggs. Eggs contain many useful substances: vitamins, amino acids, fats. To combat fumes, an omelet or fried egg of 2 eggs is enough. Fruits have a good diuretic effect. A large slice of watermelon or melon, 100 g of strawberries or 1-2 bananas effectively remove residual toxic substances in the urine, eliminating the smell of fumes.

You can also have alcohol during the feast. The right snack is not an abundance of meat or fish, which overload the liver and interfere with its work. The best dish is considered to be mashed potatoes. It binds alcohol well, facilitating its excretion through the intestines. Alcohol is practically not absorbed in its thin section and does not enter the blood. Other dishes made from vegetables rich in fiber are also good for snacking on alcohol: cabbage, carrots and beets, tomatoes, etc. A good snack option is vinaigrette and herring under a fur coat.