Breathalyzer accuracy in actual law enforcement practice: a comparison of blood- and breath-alcohol results in Wisconsin drivers.
Breathalyzer and blood-alcohol results from drivers arrested for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and for related offenses were compared during a two-year period. Four hundred and four pairs of breath- and blood-alcohol results from specimens collected within 1 h of each other were studied. Blood-alcohol concentrations ranged from zero to 0.421% weight per volume (w/v). Breath-alcohol concentrations ranged from zero to 0.44 g/210 L. The mean Breathalyzer result was 0.16 g/210 L. The mean blood-alcohol result was 0.176% w/v. Compared to the blood-alcohol result, Breathalyzer results were lower by more than 0.01 g/210 L 61% of the time, within 0.01 g/210 L 33% of the time, and higher by more than 0.01 g/210 L 6% of the time.
Harding
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Toxicology Section, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison.
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D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D014922:Wisconsin
D000431:Ethanol