Effect of hypothermia on breath-alcohol analysis.
Mild hypothermia, induced by experimental immersion of ten subjects in cold water, distorted the decay curve of breath ethanol of intoxicated subjects by as much as 22% while not altering overall ethanol clearance rate. The results provide in vivo verification of the in vitro temperature correction factor of 6.8% X degrees C-1, and support previous recommendations that temperature monitoring be included in procedures for breath-ethanol testing. We recommend that mouth temperature be obtained before breath sampling to screen for abnormal body temperature and to allow for potential use of a temperature correction factor. This modification to existing analytical procedures would help to optimize the reliability of breath-ethanol analysis in predicting blood-ethanol concentration.
D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature; D001944:Breath Tests; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis*; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007035:Hypothermia; D008297:Male
D000431:Ethanol