Introduction

Alcohol Consumption and Driving In many cultures, the consumption of alcohol has a long
tradition and is often associated with particular celebrations, customs or important events.
Many people enjoy the consumption of alcoholic drinks in nice company as well as on their
own. Consumed in moderation, the stimulating and positive effects of alcohol consumption
prevail. Nonetheless, even small amounts of alcohol can seriously affect the sensory
perception and compromise the reaction, and thus the ability to safely conduct a vehicle. For
this reason, the legislator has issued legal limits above which the conduction of a vehicle is
no longer considered safe. If the police catch a driver with a blood alcohol concentration
higher than the legal limit, then significant legal consequences may result. In view of this
situation, the necessity for precise and accurate measurement methods and measurement
instrumentation for the police is evident. However, also private users have a considerable
interest in having instruments at their disposal that enable them to determine by themselves
their breath alcohol concentration as a proxy for the blood alcohol concentration in an
accurate, precise, robust and simple way. In most countries 0.08 grams of alcohol per 100 mL
of blood (BAC 0.08) is set as the legal limit beyond which the driver is considered to be
legally drunk.
Any driver with BAC > 0.08 can be considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol
(DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) and should not be allowed to drive.
How does a person's breath reveal the amount of alcohol consumed?/ PRINCIPLE
Blood Alcohol and Breath Alcohol

1. When blood carrying ethyl alcohol circulates through the blood vessels in the alveoli
of the lungs, alcohol exchanges into the air in the lungs.
2. The alveoli are tiny tissue sacs within the lungs that are richly supplied with blood.
They can be likened to bunches of grapes.
3. The blood vessels in the alveolar sacs border the air spaces, and allow for the
movement of ethanol from the blood, directly through the blood vessel wall, and into
the air spaces in the lungs equilibrium is achieved according to Henry’s Law.
4. Henry’s Law states that for a fixed concentration of a substance in water, at a fixed
temperature, the ratio of the substance in the air space above the water is fixed. This
means that if you have an alcohol and water solution in a covered container, and hold
it at a certain temperature, the alcohol concentration in the air above the liquid will
always be in the same proportion.
5. It doesn’t matter what size the container is, as long as the same solution, at the same
temperature, is placed in all the containers, the concentration of alcohol in the air
above the liquid will be the same.
6. The constant temperature for this equilibration is 34°C (94°F), which is both the
normal temperature of exhaled breath, and the proper operating temperature of the
simulators used with the Intoxilyzer.
7. Applying Henry’s Law to alcohol in the human body yields a correlation between the
alcohol in the blood (liquid), and the alcohol in the breath (air).
8. This blood alcohol to breath alcohol ratio is 2100:1.
9. This means that there is the same amount of alcohol in 2100 ml of deep lung
(alveolar) air, as there is in 1 ml of blood.
The two types of tests used to measure alcohol levels are
Blood (BAC) and
Breath (BrAC) tests.
Any body fluid or substance that contains water can be analyzed to determine blood or breath
alcohol content. Alcohol dissolves readily in water and is carried throughout the body.
Organs and tissues having the highest water content receive the most alcohol. The purpose of
any chemical test is to determine the concentration of alcohol in the blood or breath.
Examples of body fluids and tissues that can be analyzed to determine blood/breath alcohol
levels include: Blood, breath, urine, saliva, spinal fluid and various tissues (Brain, liver, lung,
etc.) Both blood and breath tests are considered a direct measurement of blood alcohol
concentration.
The concentration of alcohol found in the breath sample is displayed in grams per 210 Liters
of breath.
Measuring Blood Alcohol A blood alcohol test is the most accurate way to measure an
individual's blood alcohol concentration (BAC, or sometimes also BlAC to avoid confusion
with the breath alcohol concentration). Because alcohol is quickly absorbed into the
bloodstream, this test can be performed just minutes after consuming an alcoholic beverage.
However, this test is more expensive and invasive, and it cannot be performed on site. The
measurement of blood alcohol concentration requires that a small volume of venous blood is
taken from the person - a medical intervention that necessitates the presence of a medical
doctor and the consent of the patient. The analysis is then performed in the analytical
laboratory by means of the instrumental technique headspace-gas chromatography (HS-GC)
which is used to separate, confirm and quantify the alcohol present in a given sample [5]. Still
today, the blood alcohol measurement by HS-GC in a forensic laboratory is the evidential test
for blood alcohol measurements, yielding results that are admissible in court.
Breath Testing
If we know how much alcohol is present in a sample of the suspects deep lung air, we can
determine that persons BrAC. All breath tests for BrAC work on the principle of obtaining
and analyzing a sample of deep lung air. Deep- lung air is called alveolar air (i.e. it comes
from the alveoli). Breath from the upper part of the lungs and from the mouth is called tidal
breath. Tidal breath is farther from the alveoli and therefore receives less alcohol. Alcohol in
deep - lung air only comes into equilibrium with alcohol in the blood at a ratio of 2100 to 1.
(2100ml Alveoli Air - 1ml Blood) Breath tests usually benefit the defendant because the most
scientific ratio is 2300 to1. As an individual exhales, they expel a mixture of tidal breath and
alveolar air. The first part of the exhalation consists almost entirely of tidal breath. As they
continue to exhale, a greater proportion of alveolar air is expelled. The last part of exhalation
(just before running out of breath) consists almost entirely of alveolar air.
The exhaled air to blood ratio by alcohol is approximately 2300 in most people, but this can
depend on whether hypo- or hyper-ventilation has occurred, and body temperature. Most
breath analysis instrumentation uses a ratio of 2100 to allow for variations from one person to
another. This means that breath analysis results will only rarely overestimate the actual BAC,
although many countries now apply a breath alcohol limit rather than calculating the
equivalent BAC, thus avoiding the need to assume the breath to blood partition ratio.
If the subject has recently consumed alcohol and there has not been time for this to dissipate from
the mouth, an erroneously high BrAc value will be obtained. This presence of residual alcohol is
often referred to as mouth alcohol. A period of at least 15 minutes should be allowed to elapse
between the last drink the subject is known to have consumed and the breath alcohol test to ensure
any mouth alcohol has dissipated. In addition, all instruments should be evaluated periodically
according to an established qualityassurance procedure to ensure optimal analytical performance,
including accuracy, precision, linearity and critical-system evaluations (e.g. acetone detection,
radiofrequency interference detection, mouth alcohol detection, etc.)

BREATHANALYZER
The most widespread method for rapidly determining alcohol intoxication is breath testing.
A breath tester is simply a device for collecting and measuring the alcohol content of alveolar
breath. Alcohol is expelled, unchanged, in the breath of a person who has been drinking. A
breath test measures the alcohol concentration in the pulmonary artery by measuring its
concentration in alveolar breath. Thus, breath analysis provides an easily obtainable specimen
along with a rapid and accurate result.
Breath testing is the most common method used by law enforcement to estimate BAC
because breath analysis devices, or breathalyzers, are lightweight, portable, and provide
immediate results. Breathalyzers measure the alcohol that passes through alveoli air
sacs as blood flows through vessels in the lungs, and is then expelled on a subject’s
breath. Breathalyzer results, particularly those derived from fuel cell sensor breath
tests, are considered sufficiently accurate to be admitted in a DUI (driving under the
influence) prosecution.
Breath-test results obtained during the absorption phase may be higher than results obtained
from a simultaneous analysis of venous blood. However, the former are more reflective of the
concentration of alcohol reaching the brain and therefore more accurately reflect the effects
of alcohol on the subject. Again, once absorption is complete, the difference between a blood
test and a breath test should be minimal.

Types of Devices
There are three major types of breath alcohol testing devices based upon different principles:
 A Breathalyzer uses a chemical reaction involving alcohol that produces a color
change.
 An Intoxilyzer detects alcohol by infrared (IR) spectroscopy.
 The Alcosensor III or IV detects a chemical reaction of alcohol in a fuel cell.

Introduction:
The Breathalyzer is a device used by police and government agencies all around the world to
determine the amount of alcohol in the blood using a breath sample and to determine if a
driver is legally impaired due to the influence of alcohol.
This device does not directly measure the amount of alcohol in the blood, rather through the
analysis of a breath sample one can correlate the amount of alcohol in the breath sample to
the total volume of alcohol in the individual’s blood. Within the device, the breath sample
gets mixed with potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7)and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and a redox
reaction takes place as follows:
3C2H5OH + 2K2Cr2O7+ 8H2SO4 2Cr2(SO4)3+ 3CH3COOH + 2K2SO4 + 11H2O
When the potassium dichromate solution reacts with ethanol, the potassium dichromate loses
an oxygen atom. This process is called reduction- when a compound loses oxygen, gains
hydrogen, or gains electrons. The reduction reaction converts the orange colored potassium
dichromate solution into a green solution containing chromium sulfate (Cr2(SO4)3). At the
same time ethanol gets oxidizedto acetic acid. Oxidation is the gain of oxygen, the loss of
hydrogen, or the loss of electrons. When these reactions take place in the breathalyser, the
device compares the reacted solution with an unreacted solution and then gives a reading
according to the change in color of that solution.
The objective of this experiment is to understand the chemistry behind a redox reaction, learn
the technique of spectrophotometric analysis, and then determine the alcohol content of an
unknown wine sample by plotting a graph that compares ethanol concentrations vs
absorbance.
 How Breathalyzers Work
We hear and read about drivers who are charged with drunken driving
after an accident, and usually a news report on the accident will say
what the driver's blood alcohol level was and what the legal limit for
blood alcohol is. A driver might be found to have a level of .15, for
example, and the legal limit is .08. But what do those figures mean
and how do police officers find out if a driver they suspect has been
drinking is legally drunk? You have probably heard about the
Breathalyzer, but may wonder exactly how a person's breath can show
how much that person has had to drink.
It is important for public safety that drunken drivers be taken off the
roads. Of the 42,000 traffic deaths in the United States in 1999, about
38 percent were related to alcohol. Drivers who can pass roadside
sobriety tests -- they can touch their noses or walk a straight line --
still might be breaking the legal limit for blood alcohol and be a
hazard on the road. So police officers use some of the latest
technology to detect alcohol levels in suspected drunken drivers and
remove them from the streets. Many officers in the field rely on
breath alcohol testing devices (Breathalyzer is one type) to determine
the blood alcohol concentration, referred to as BAC, in drunken-
driving suspects. In this article we examine the scientific principles
and technology behind these breath alcohol testing devices.

Need for Testing

Alcohol intoxication is legally defined by the blood alcohol
concentration level. However, taking a blood sample in the field for
later analysis in the laboratory was not practical or efficient for
detaining drivers suspected of driving while impaired (DWI) or
driving under the influence (DUI). What was needed was a way to
measure something related to BAC without invading a suspect's body.
Urine tests for alcohol proved to be just as impractical in the field as
blood sampling. In the 1940s breath alcohol testing devices were first
developed for use by police. In 1954, Dr. Robert Borkenstein of the
Indiana State Police invented the Breathalyzer, one type of breath
alcohol testing device used by law enforcement agencies today.

Principle of Testing
Alcohol that a person drinks shows up in the breath because it gets
absorbed from the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines into the
bloodstream. Alcohol is not digested upon absorption or chemically
changed in the bloodstream. As the blood goes through the lungs,
some of the alcohol moves across the membranes of the lung's air sacs
(alveoli) into the air because alcohol will evaporate from a solution --
that is, it is volatile. The concentration of the alcohol in the alveolar
air is related to the concentration of the alcohol in the blood. As the
alcohol in the alveolar air is exhaled, it can be detected by the breath
alcohol testing device. So instead of having to draw a driver's blood to
test his alcohol level, an officer can test the breath on the spot and
determine whether there is a reason to arrest the driver.
Because the alcohol concentration in the breath is related to that in the
blood, you can figure the BAC by measuring alcohol on the breath.
The ratio of breath to blood alcohol is 2,100 to 1. This means that
2,100 milliliters of alveolar air will contain the same amount of
alcohol as 1 milliliter of blood.
The legal standard for drunkenness across the United States was .10
for years, but recently many states have adopted the .08 standard. The
federal government has pushed states to lower the legal limit. The
American Medical Association says that a person can become
impaired when the blood alcohol level hits .05. The standard .08
means that there is .08 gram of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

Types of Devices
There are three major types of breath alcohol testing devices based
upon different principles:
 A Breathalyzer uses a chemical reaction involving alcohol that
produces a color change.
 An Intoxilyzer detects alcohol by infrared (IR) spectroscopy.
 The Alcosensor III or IV detects a chemical reaction of alcohol
in a fuel cell.
Regardless of the type, each device has a mouthpiece or tube through
which the suspect can blow air and a sample chamber where the air
goes. The rest of the device will vary with the type.
Breathalyzer
The device contains a system to sample the breath of the suspect, two
glass vials containing the chemical reaction mixture and a system of
photocells connected to a meter to measure the color change
associated with the chemical reaction. To measure alcohol, a suspect
breathes into the device. The breath sample is bubbled in one vial
through a mixture of sulfuric acid, potassium dichromate, silver
nitrate and water. The principle of the measurement is based upon the
following chemical reaction:
In this reaction,
1. The sulfuric acid removes the alcohol from the air into a liquid
solution.
2. The alcohol reacts with potassium dichromate to produce:
 chromium sulfate
 potassium sulfate
 acetic acid
 water
3. The silver nitrate is a catalyst, a substance that makes the reaction
go faster without participating in it.
The sulfuric acid also might provide the acidic condition needed for
this reaction.
During this reaction, the reddish-orange dichromate ion changes color
to the green chromium ion when it reacts with the alcohol; the degree
of the color change is directly related to the level of alcohol in the
expired air. To determine the amount of alcohol in the expired air, the
reacted mixture is compared to a vial of unreacted mixture in the
photocell system, which produces an electric current that causes the
needle in the meter to move from its resting place. The operator then
rotates a knob to bring the needle back to the resting place and reads
the level of alcohol from the knob; the more that the operator must
turn the knob to return it to rest, the greater the level of alcohol.
Intoxilyzer
This device uses infrared (IR) spectroscopy, which identifies
molecules based on the way they absorb IR light. Molecules are
constantly vibrating and these vibrations change when they absorb IR
light. The changes in vibration include bending and stretching of
various bonds. Each type of bond within a molecule absorbs IR at
different wavelengths. So, to identify ethanol in a sample, you would
have to look at the wavelengths of the bonds in ethanol (C-O, O-H, C-
H, C-C) and measure the absorption of IR light. The wavelength helps
to identify it as ethanol and the amount of IR absorption tells you how
much ethanol is there.

In the Intoxilyzer, a lamp generates a broadband (many wavelengths)

IR beam. The IR beam passes through the sample chamber and is
focused by a lens onto a spinning filter wheel. The filter wheel
contains narrow band filters specific for the wavelengths of the bonds
in ethanol. The light passing through each filter is detected by the
photocell, where it is converted to an electrical pulse. The electrical
pulse is relayed to the microprocessor, which interprets the pulses and
calculates the BAC, based on the absorption of infrared light.
Fuel Cell Detectors
Modern fuel cell technology has been applied to breath alcohol
detectors. The fuel cell has two platinum electrodes with a porous
acid electrolyte material sandwiched between them. As the exhaled air
from the suspect flows past one side of the fuel cell, the platinum
oxidizes any alcohol in the air to produce acetic acid, protons and
electrons. The electrons flow through a wire from the platinum
electrode. The wire is connected to an electrical current meter and to
the platinum electrode on the other side. The protons move through
the lower portion of the fuel cell and combine with oxygen and the
electrons on the other side to form water. The more alcohol that
becomes oxidized, the greater the electrical current. A microprocessor
measures the electrical current and calculates the BAC.
Operators of any breath alcohol testing device must be trained in the
use and calibration of the devices, especially if the results are to be
used as evidence in DWI trials. Law enforcement officers can carry
portable breath testing devices that use the same principle as full-size
devices. Court cases can turn on the perceived accuracy of a breath
test, however, so prosecutors depend on the results from full-size
devices.