The number of visits to the emergency room related to alcohol continues to rise. Research shows that these visits may not all be due to the excessive alcohol consumed, but to the toxic chemicals or other drugs sometimes found in cheap alcohol or mixed drinks.

Currently, blood tests are the only way of testing for the presence of chemicals in the body, but health care professionals are in need of a faster way to screen. Researchers on the study published in Journal of Breath Research, have developed a test to quickly detect chemicals in saliva.

To test the new development, the researchers added chemicals to saliva of three study participants. Chemicals added include methanol, ethylene glycol, ethanol, propan 1 and 3 glycol. They then extracted the compounds using an oral sampler. They were able to recognize the chemicals.

The researchers hope that one day this test will be as easy as taking a temperature.