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BREATH ALCOHOL TESTING

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  375

2026-08-15

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BREATH ALCOHOL TESTING

Breath testing of alcohol is by far, the most widely used method for alcohol testing in use today, especially given its near universal use in drunk-driving cases. Originally, breath testing instruments converted the BrAC to BAC using a constant ratio (usually 2100:1). As breath testing instruments evolved and research indicated that this ratio was imprecise, many states added laws that link violations directly to BrAC. Breath testing instruments can be divided into two general groups; those that are used primarily as preliminary breath testing instruments (PBTs) and those that are accepted for evidentiary purposes. There is some overlap, as some PBTs are useable as evidentiary instruments in some jurisdictions. Recent surveys indicate that the Alco-Sensors (Intoximeter Company) are the most popular PBTs, and the Intoxilyzers (CMI, Inc.) are the most popular evidentiary instruments. The first commercially popular and successful BrAC instrument was the Breathalyzer. This instrument worked on the principle that acidified potassium dichromate will oxidize alcohol to acetic acid, while at the same time being reduced to chromium sulfate. The complete equation is given below: