title: Alcohol in breath and blood: a selected ion flow tube mass spectrometric study.
abstract: In this paper we compare the amounts of ethanol in breath and in blood after ingestion of whisky using analysis by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Blood ethanol concentrations were also obtained using standard hospital forensic procedures for blood alcohol analyses. We demonstrate the quantitative nature of SIFT-MS analysis by correlating the observed alcohol content of the headspace above 5-mL amounts of venous blood and aqueous solution to which known trace amounts of alcohol have been added. This procedure provides a Henry's Law coefficient for ethanol in aqueous solution at 298 +/- 3 K of 209 +/- 7 mol/kg*bar. We also demonstrate that measurement of the ethanol concentration in the alveolar portion of a single breath using the SIFT-MS technique gives an accurate measure of blood alcohol and could obviate the need for blood samples in forensic processing. The storage performance of breath samples in Mylar bags with a volume greater than 1 L has been shown to maintain the mixture integrity for ethanol but not for some other species.
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors: P F
authors: PF
authors: Wilson
authors: C G
authors: CG
authors: Freeman
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: McEwan
authors: D B
authors: DB
authors: Milligan
authors: R A
authors: RA
authors: Allardyce
authors: G M
authors: GM
authors: Shaw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol