title: Comparison of venous blood alcohol concentrations and breath alcohol concentrations measured with Draeger Alcotest 9510 DE Evidential.
abstract: Most comparisons of blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) and breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) are either derived from drinking trials with rigid drinking protocols or from investigative authorities' data with considerable time differences between the determination of BAC and BrAC. In general, only comparisons of relatively low BAC-BrAC pairs are available. Therefore, the relationship between BAC and BrAC was examined even for high BAC above 2g/kg. The results of a large-scale drinking test under realistic conditions with 78 test persons and short time intervals between BAC and BrAC measurements are presented. It was shown that the conversion factor Q varies greatly (between 1571:1 and 2394:1) and increases with increasing BAC. A constant conversion factor that is suitable for variable forensic purposes could not be presented.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: benno.hartung@med.uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mathematics, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schwender
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pawlik
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ritz-Timme
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Nona
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mindiashvili
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Daldrup
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: BAC; Blood alcohol concentration; BrAC; Breath alcohol concentration; Conversion factor; Q