The advantages of standardizing exhaled breath-alcohol concentration to a reference respiratory gas—water vapor
Lindberg, Lars LU
and Jones, Alan Wayne
(2023)
In Journal of Breath Research
17(1).
- Abstract
Measuring the concentration of alcohol (ethanol) in exhaled breath (BrAC) provides a rapid and non-invasive way to determine the co-existing concentration in arterial blood (A-BAC). The results of breath-alcohol testing are used worldwide as evidence of excessive drinking, such as when traffic offenders are prosecuted. Two types of breath-alcohol analyzer are in common use; hand-held instruments used as preliminary screening tests of sobriety and more sophisticated evidential instruments, the results of which are accepted as evidence for prosecution of drunken drivers. Most evidential breath-alcohol analyzers are designed to capture the last portion of a prolonged exhalation, which is thought to reflect the alcohol concentration in... (More)
Measuring the concentration of alcohol (ethanol) in exhaled breath (BrAC) provides a rapid and non-invasive way to determine the co-existing concentration in arterial blood (A-BAC). The results of breath-alcohol testing are used worldwide as evidence of excessive drinking, such as when traffic offenders are prosecuted. Two types of breath-alcohol analyzer are in common use; hand-held instruments used as preliminary screening tests of sobriety and more sophisticated evidential instruments, the results of which are accepted as evidence for prosecution of drunken drivers. Most evidential breath-alcohol analyzers are designed to capture the last portion of a prolonged exhalation, which is thought to reflect the alcohol concentration in substantially alveolar air. The basic premise of breath-alcohol analysis is that there is a physiological relationship between A-BAC and BrAC and close agreement between the two analytical methods. This article reviews the principles and practice of breath-alcohol analysis and introduces the concept of standardizing the results to a secondary physiological gas (water vapor), which therefore serves as an internal standard. The measured BrAC is thus adjusted to an alveolar air water content of 43.95 mg l−1 at 37 °C. This has several advantages, and means that a sample of breath can be captured without the person having to blow directly into the instrument. Adjusting the breath-alcohol concentration to water vapor concentration also compensates for variations in temperature of the expired air. The contact-free method of sampling breath means that a mouthpiece is unnecessary and the test subject does not need to make a continuous end exhalation.
(Less)
- author
- Lindberg, Lars
LU
and Jones, Alan Wayne
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- alcohol, breath-alcohol, ethanol, infrared technology, respiratory gases, standardization, water-vapor
- in
- Journal of Breath Research
- volume
- 17
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 014002
- publisher
- IOP Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85142918825
- pmid:36368034
- ISSN
- 1752-7155
- DOI
- 10.1088/1752-7163/aca21b
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3bc1dc5a-c977-4d0e-b6a7-2e2997e27d9a
- date added to LUP
- 2023-02-07 15:36:15
- date last changed
- 2025-11-16 00:22:41
@article{3bc1dc5a-c977-4d0e-b6a7-2e2997e27d9a,
abstract = {{<p>Measuring the concentration of alcohol (ethanol) in exhaled breath (BrAC) provides a rapid and non-invasive way to determine the co-existing concentration in arterial blood (A-BAC). The results of breath-alcohol testing are used worldwide as evidence of excessive drinking, such as when traffic offenders are prosecuted. Two types of breath-alcohol analyzer are in common use; hand-held instruments used as preliminary screening tests of sobriety and more sophisticated evidential instruments, the results of which are accepted as evidence for prosecution of drunken drivers. Most evidential breath-alcohol analyzers are designed to capture the last portion of a prolonged exhalation, which is thought to reflect the alcohol concentration in substantially alveolar air. The basic premise of breath-alcohol analysis is that there is a physiological relationship between A-BAC and BrAC and close agreement between the two analytical methods. This article reviews the principles and practice of breath-alcohol analysis and introduces the concept of standardizing the results to a secondary physiological gas (water vapor), which therefore serves as an internal standard. The measured BrAC is thus adjusted to an alveolar air water content of 43.95 mg l<sup>−1</sup> at 37 °C. This has several advantages, and means that a sample of breath can be captured without the person having to blow directly into the instrument. Adjusting the breath-alcohol concentration to water vapor concentration also compensates for variations in temperature of the expired air. The contact-free method of sampling breath means that a mouthpiece is unnecessary and the test subject does not need to make a continuous end exhalation.</p>}},
author = {{Lindberg, Lars and Jones, Alan Wayne}},
issn = {{1752-7155}},
keywords = {{alcohol; breath-alcohol; ethanol; infrared technology; respiratory gases; standardization; water-vapor}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{IOP Publishing}},
series = {{Journal of Breath Research}},
title = {{The advantages of standardizing exhaled breath-alcohol concentration to a reference respiratory gas—water vapor}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1752-7163/aca21b}},
doi = {{10.1088/1752-7163/aca21b}},
volume = {{17}},
year = {{2023}},
}