three trimester equivalents, alcohol must be administered to neonate pups (via oral intubation; see Ingestion), and the mechanisms of exposure, absorption, and elimination of this substance are significantly different during the prenatal and postnatal periods. For example, ethanol metabolizing enzymes, such as alcohol dehydrogenase, are only at 25% of adult levels at birth (76). Normally, the fetus is partially protected by the mothers’ capacity to metabolize ethanol, so in rodent pups it is routinely reported that higher BAC levels are produced in neonates with lower alcohol doses than those used in pregnant dams (77–80).
