The purpose of a breathalyzer is to estimate the alcohol content of a subject's breath or Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC), and by extension, estimate a subject's Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Inexpensive, portable analyzers are broadly used by law enforcement officials in field sobriety tests of drivers, though in many jurisdictions the results are non-evidentiary. In other words, they are not admissible in trials. Many states only accept tests of the ethanol content from the blood itself or from expensive, closer calibrated units.
The effects of alcohol consumption are often misunderstood. Contributing to the confusion is the fact that an individual's weight, hydration, gender, medications and even muscle mass all can impact the metabolism of ethanol. Because alcohol impairs judgment, an individual's ability to calculate and adjust accordingly is diminished when one is under the influence. Occasionally, the breath alcohol analyzer is placed in bars for patrons to assess their own BrAC.
Once alcohol is ingested, it is absorbed by all the tissues it comes into contact with from the mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines. Ethanol is the main type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. As ethanol is distributed throughout the body, it is dissolved in the blood. Because of its volatility, the ethanol that reaches the lungs through the circulatory system is easily vaporized. Breathalyzers capture this expelled, vaporized ethanol and quantify the concentration, which is directly correlated to the BAC.
The biochemical principles surrounding the use of the alcohol breathalyzer is well established and accepted. Research has shown the devices provide varied results depending on the temperature of the subject or the device. The presence of latent ethanol in the subject's mouth can also increase the BrAC above their actual BAC. Likewise, acid reflux, belching, and unusual breathing patterns such as hyperventilation, blowing too deeply, blowing too shallowly or holding one's breath, have all been shown to skew results. Typically, police officers must follow strict protocols while administering BrAC tests to eliminate these confounding conditions.
Low-cost handheld devices have contributed to wider commercial usage. Workplaces with heavy machinery routinely screen equipment operators, airlines test pilots, schools test students and hospital emergency rooms frequently employ the devices. A closely calibrated analyzer of the type that are allowed in criminal prosecutions can still cost thousands of dollars. This is prohibitively expensive for most other purposes. Improving technology and decreasing tolerance for impaired driving guarantees that the devices will continue to play a role in law enforcement.
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