title: Effect of age and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the Breathalyzer estimation of blood alcohol level.
abstract: Twenty volunteers, 10 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 10 with no disease, ingested a vodka cocktail. Serial determinations of blood alcohol level (BAL) by gas-liquid chromatography and simultaneous Breathalyzer estimations of BAL were used to calculate blood:breath alcohol partition coefficients (PCs). Data from the present study were combined with data obtained in a previous study using identical methodology to examine the relationship between age and BAL estimation. It was found that the Breathalyzer significantly underestimated BAL as a function of age. It was hypothesized that the underestimation may be due to closing volume (CV) as the Breathalyzer samples end-expiratory breath.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Sitar
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Molloy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D001944:Breath Tests; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol