You can’t get drunk through your feet — at least if your hooves are lovers of vodka.

While this may not affect your Friday night out, for the students of Denmark the finding resolved a foot-induced-drunkenness legend that had been pestering them for decades.

The science behind the breakthrough involved three Ph.D. students at the Hillerød Hospital and 2,100 millilitres of vodka.

“This legend is quite common amongst students, particularly at the University of Københavns” said Dr. Christian Stevns Hansen, one of the doctors behind the study, in an interview with the Toronto Star. “Some people even say that if you stand in beet juice your pee will turn red.”

And for those ready to trash the merit of their scientific undertaking, the societal implications of their work were clear to the trio.

“Because the transcutaneous (through unbroken skin) transport of alcohol to the circulation may have widespread implications, such urban myths need to be investigated in a scientific setting,” their article in the British Medical Journal reads.

So, Dr. Hansen, Dr. Louise Holmsgaard Færch and Dr. Peter Lommer Kristensen spent one afternoon in their office, with their feet (carefully exfoliated the night before) marinating in three separate bowls, each filled with 700 mL of vodka.

The “Peace On Earth” (Percutaneous Ethanol Absorption Could Evoke Ongoing Nationwide Euphoria And Random Tender Hugs) study had begun.

Every half-hour, a group of nurses would take blood samples from the diligent team, as the doctors tried to complete research for their actual doctoral studies, while amused colleagues walked past — staring.

“The blood samples were rushed to the lab every 30 minutes to make sure our alcohol levels didn’t get critical,” says Hansen. “We didn’t have any external funds to support our research, but our lab agreed to sponsor our ethanol-level analysis.”

During the experiment, the trio observed each other for symptoms of drunkenness, assessing their self-confidence, urge to speak, and number of spontaneous hugs, and scoring them on a scale of 0 to 10.

“There were some random hugs during the experiment,” Hansen admits.

After three hours of stewing, the blood test results were in. Despite the hugs, none of them were drunk.

Why vodka? “We’d heard that you could get drunk putting your feet in Vodka, otherwise we would have used any alcohol,” Hansen says. “So we chose the cheapest we could get our hands on. It was Karloff vodka, definitely not a premium brand.”

So, what have we learned, apart from the fact you can’t get drunk through your feet?

According to the team’s published article, “driving or leading a vessel with boots full of vodka seems to be safe,” the article reads.

Hansen insists this is a research area that begs for more studies.

“Our study has shown that this area definitely deserves extensive funding in the future. We’ve only investigated vodka, and there are several other alcohols that could be analyzed.”

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But for now, claiming you accidentally stepped in a puddle of vodka won’t stand up in court.

“If anyone ever comes to the emergency department complaining that they were out and had their feet in alcohol, we can assure them that they are definitely not drunk,” said Hansen.

Cross that excuse off your list.