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Breathalyzers: When Alcohol Is Not Alcohol

By Lawrence Taylor

Breathalyzers don't actually measure alcohol. That's right.  What these machines actually detect and measure is any chemical compund that contains the methyl group in its molecular structure. There are thousands of such compounds — including quite a few which can be found on the human breath. And this machine that determines a person's guilt or innocence will 'see' all of those chemicals as alcohol — and report a falsely high 'blood-alcohol' concentration (BAC). Most breath machines used by law enforcement in DUI cases today employ a technology called infrared spectroscopy. The DUI suspect breathes through a tube connected to the machine and a breath sample is captured in a small sample chamber inside the machine...continue to full post

Full post as published by DUI Blog on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).