Approximately _______ percent of consumed alcohol leaves the body unchanged through breath, sweat, and urine.

The correct answer is 10%. This percentage refers to the portion of alcohol that is excreted from the body without undergoing metabolic processing first. While the liver metabolizes the majority of alcohol, a smaller percentage is eliminated through non-metabolic pathways, which include breath, sweat, and urine.

Understanding this percentage is vital as it relates to the overall effects of alcohol consumption on the body. The body metabolizes alcohol primarily in the liver, but recognizing that a significant amount—10% in this case—can exit through other means can help individuals gauge the impact of drinking on their systems, especially when considering driving and other activities that require full cognitive and physical functioning. This statistic also underscores the importance of allowing sufficient time for alcohol to leave the system before engaging in activities that could be dangerous if impaired by alcohol.