Problems of Forensic Sciences 2008 Vol. 75 (LXXV) 256-267
EXPERT OPINIONS CONCERNING BREATH TESTING AFTER CONSUMPTION OF CHOCOLATES FILLED WITH ALCOHOL AND SELECTED PREPARATIONS CONTAINING ALCOHOL
Barbara POTOCKA-BANAŚ, Krzysztof BOROWIAK, Tomasz JANUS, Sławomir MAJDANIK
Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland
Streszczenie
Estimating the (potential) level of intoxication resulting from consumption of different foodstuffs and parapharmaceuticals is a common problem in expert opinions in forensic toxicology, because of so-called residual alcohol. In the present work, the authors compared results obtained using the Alkometr A2.0 and the Alco-Sensor, two of the most popular breathalysers. Breath analyses were conducted after consumption of chocolates filled with alcohol, a medicine for gastric pain (“gastric drops”), a breath freshener, a non-alcoholic beer and Bosman beer (6.7% alc. v/v). Ten healthy adult volunteers (5 males and 5 females) were involved in the experiment. Preliminary results allowed us to approximate the time of complete elimination of ethanol from the body after exposure to the above mentioned alcohol-containing products. Particular attention was paid to the presence of residual alcohol in the mouth. Intake of products containing alcohol may lead to positive readings of breathalysers up to 7 min. In contrast to Alco-Sensor, Alkometr A 2.0 did not reveal residual alcohol. This preliminary experiment indicated the importance of a time delay in breath analysis, and the fact that knowledge on this topic is necessary to prepare correct opinions.
Słowa kluczowe
Alcohol; Alco-Sensor IV; Alcometr A2.0.