Breath Mints and Breathalyzers - A Bad Combination |
Did you know that the typical breathalyzer test cannot determine the source of the alcohol it is detecting on a person's
breath. This problem is mainly between the air coming from the lungs
and that coming from the mouth or throat. Could you have a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) over .08 with good oral hygiene?
Well, it all comes down to the mouthwash or spray that is used. Breath
fresheners and mouthwash contain alcohol. This article explores the issues of breathalyzers and breath mints and mouthwashes.
Breath Mints and Breathalyzers - A Bad Combination
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Devine]Joseph Devine
Breathalyzers have many problems. People don't administer them
correctly. They are inaccurate. They aren't calibrated correctly. One
problem that frequently isn't discussed is a breathalyzer's inability
to determine the source of the alcohol it is detecting on a person's
breath. This problem is mainly between the air coming from the lungs
and that coming from the mouth or throat.
A breathalyzer's internal computer assumes that all air it is analyzing
is alveolar air. Alveolar air is air from deep in the lungs. As such,
the internal computer assumes that all alcohol it is detecting is from
the lungs. Because of this assumption, the breathalyzer will take
whatever amount of alcohol it detects and multiply it by the partition
ratio. Unfortunately, all air that is expelled must pass through
portions of the throat and all of the mouth. This means that if there
is alcohol there, for whatever reason, it will be picked up by the air
and carried into the breathalyzer.
While this may not sound like a big deal to those who assume that
everyone who takes the breathalyzer is drunk, it is a big deal to those
who have not had anything to drink and are merely guilty of good oral
hygiene. How could they have a BAC over .08 with good oral hygiene?
Well, it all comes down to the mouthwash or spray that is used. Breath
fresheners and mouthwash contain alcohol. Listerine, in fact, is 27%
alcohol. Scope is 19% alcohol. Atring-O-Sol is made up of 76% alcohol.
Many might ask why mouthwash needs alcohol. Mouthwash uses alcohol
because alcohol has long been known to kill germs and bacteria. For
this reason, merely brushing your teeth and using mouthwash afterwards
can result in a high reading on any breathalyzer machine.
The problem with assuming that mouth air alcohol is lung air alcohol is
that the mouth air alcohol has not been absorbed by the stomach and
intestines and passed into the blood that way. In addition, the teeth
can trap alcohol which can be released into the breathalyzer.
The problem of Listerine drunks has gotten such attention that many
mouthwash producing companies have started developing alcohol-free
mouthwash options. A breathalyzer is incapable of differentiating
between alveolar air, air from deep in the lungs which would have
alcohol from the blood, and mouth, throat, or stomach alcohol which
would not contain alcohol from the blood.
For more information on the problems with breathalyzers, please visit
[http://www.dallas-dwi-lawyers.com/]http://www.dallas-dwi-lawyers.com.
Joseph Devine
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Devine
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