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Breath Alcohol Concentration Tests Can Vary As Much As 20%

By Stephen J. Isaacs, Esq.

While the states contend that the science behind Breath Alcohol Testing is reliable, researchers are finding flaws upon which with the science upon which Breath Alcohol Testing is based.  Lung physiology researcher Dr. Michael P. Hlastala, Ph.D. Professor of Physiology, Biophysics and of Medicine Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine of the University of Washington tested the consistency of measurements from breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) testing machines and compared them to measurements of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measurements.  Dr. Hlastala discovered that the results could vary by as much as plus or minus 20%. In his research, Dr. Hlastala states that: . . . subjects with larger lung volume may have a lower BrAC than a subject with a small lung volume because these subjects do not need to exhale as great a fraction of their vital capacity as subjects with smaller lung volume to fulfill the minimum volume exhalation required before stopping exhalation (usually ~1...continue to full post

Full post as published by Kentucky DUI Defense Lawyer on September 11, 2009 (boomark / email).