Breathalyzer Blog Archives

This blog remained active for only a few months. Here is an archive of postings. For more current news on breathalyzer developments please see The Personal Health Monitor Blog.

Five Tips on How to Avoid a False DUI Breathalyzer Result
At the phillyBurbs.com website. A summary:

1. If you smoke cigarettes, you may want to pass on that Breathalyzer mouthpiece the officer is handing you.

2. If you are a diabetic with possible low blood sugar, you should also avoid the breath test.

3. Are you on a low-carb diet? Or had nothing to eat in quite awhile? Avoid the Breathalyzer in a DUI investigation.

4. If you have acid reflux or have burped or belched before taking the Breathalyzer, offer to provide a blood sample instead.

5. When you see that officer in the rear-view mirror, don't reach for the mouthwash or breath spray to disguise the drink or two you've had. Most of them contain significant levels of alcohol. 
April 10th, 2006

TV News Investigates the Breathalyzer
Will your breathalyzer test hold up in court? A recent case was thrown out in Florida after arguments that the workings of the breathalyzer could not be validated. Eyewitness News in Las Vegas decided upon its own investigation. The results are inconclusive, but interesting.
March 10th, 2006

Xbox Breathalyzer
Why Microsoft should add a breathalyzer to the Xbox 360 - commentary at ars technica.
February 28th, 2006

Breathalyzer Pen
Several gadget websites are reporting the advent of the breathalyzer pen. It's being advertised at Britain's Boys Stuff website, which says:

The Breath Test Pen works just like a standard breathalyser, but instead of blowing into a bag, you blow into a hole in the pen top. It takes just seconds; if you're over the limit, the green LED light turns red and lets you know it's time to book a taxi... Easy to use and carry around, it's an excellent accessory for all drivers.

Engadget comments:

If you're still not convinced that this $35 device is for you, we'll throw in a UV sunburn tester at no extra charge (we're not joking, it really does that- apparently drinking and tanning is more dangerous than we thought).
February 23rd, 2006

Terror Suspended
I wrote a few weeks ago that "a new terror stalks the streets," - namely the introduction of the breathalyzer to Kenya.

Now a judge has suspended its use. The BBC reports:

Nairobi High Court Justice Joseph Nyamu issued a 30-day restraining order preventing national police from using "Alcoblow" tests pending a study into whether they violate Kenyans' constitutional rights....

Correspondents say the breath tests caused an uproar in Kenya, where many consider binge drinking a national sport and driving is often the only way to get home from a party or a bar.

Authorities have faced a worrying number of fatal road accidents in recent years, with 3,000 in 2004. Many of them have been blamed on drunk drivers.

Since police began using the Alcoblow tests last month, hundreds of people have been charged with drink driving and forced to pay hefty fines.
January 24th, 2006

New Breathalyzer - AlcoHawk Slim
Q3 Innovations' new breathalyzer, the AlcoHawk Slim, made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show, and has attracted some media attention.

PopHomeTech reported:

This handheld device uses a sensitive semiconductor sensor to test blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from .00 to .40 percent. To operate, you simply press the button on the handheld device, wait for the countdown on the screen to reach zero, then blow into the mouthpiece for five seconds. Your BAC reading will appear on the screen within four to five seconds after the breath sample is taken.

According to the Rocky Mountain News:

Have you ever gotten behind the wheel when you maybe shouldn't have? The AlcoHawk Slim digital breathalyzer from Q3 Innovations aims to let you know when you've had too much to drink.

Britain's HEXUS.net wrote:

So there was team HEXUS, coherently walking around CES when team HEXUS was confronted by the people from one booth and promptly breathalysed.

Luckily they weren't trying to catch the team out, and indeed levels were within limits. Rather, they were showing off their latest digital breathalyser - the AlcoHAWK Slim. The device is FDA- and DOT-cleared, plus it's easy to use, giving a result in seconds. For the drivers out there it's perhaps a useful device to have. There's no word on UK availability, but its MSRP in the US is $69.95.
January 17th, 2006

Breathalyzer Cell Phones
LG has impressed the crowds at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with its breathalyzer-equipped cell phones. IGN.com reports:

It sounds like a goof or some sort of public appeasement to release a handset that actually tests your sobriety level, but LG has enjoyed monster success in Korea with the LP4100. The series of breathalyzer-equipped phones that the 4100 hails from sold over 200,000 units in Korea in 2005 -- and it continues to be a success. Naturally, LG brought a few of the handsets to its CES booth here in Vegas.

We watched a demo of the handset. There is a sensor directly on the handset that you breathe on. After a few moments, the phone tells you whether or not you are within the limit to drive. It sounds gimmicky in theory, but is a lifesaver in practice.

But no word on whether they'll be introduced to America.
January 7th, 2006

Car Breathalyzers - Good Or Bad?
Volvo has drawn some fire for planned moves to introduce breathalyzers to its cars. The devices would disable the ignition if the driver was over the limit, and Volvo claims it would help reduce drink driving.

However, a spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern warned that drivers needed to remember that drinking any alcohol before driving could impair performance. "Even a small reduction in reaction speed or hand-eye co-ordination could cause an accident," she said.
January 4th, 2006

Breathalyzers "Don't Measure Alcohol"
A California law firm is claiming that law enforcement breathalyzers do not actually measure alcohol, and thus may produce false readings.

According to the the Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor, Inc., in San Diego, California, most breathalyzers used in DUI [driving under the influence] cases by law enforcement today use "infrared spectroscopy". This technology involves detection of the "methyl group" in the molecular structure of alcohol. The problem is that there are thousands of chemical compounds containing the methyl group -- some of them found on the human breath. In one study involving 28 subjects, for example, researchers found that the "combined expired air comprises at least 102 various organic compounds of endogenous and exogenous origin"

The law firm claims that diabetics and smokers are among those who may give false readings.
December 30th, 2005

A New Terror Stalks the Streets
The breathalyzer comes to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, a country with a horrendous road death toll, and drivers are angry.

This holiday season, a new terror is stalking the streets of this East African capital: the Breathalyzer.

Just say the word in a Nairobi bar and faces droop. Drinkers nervously scan the empty beer bottles in front of them. Some curse. Others complain bitterly about the cost of a cab ride home.

The introduction this month of Kenya's first Breathalyzers - long used in Western countries to test drivers' blood-alcohol levels but relatively new in Africa - has sparked an outcry in a country where driving while intoxicated is, while not explicitly tolerated, certainly commonplace.

It's even something of a national punch line; drinkers commonly say: "My car knows the way home."

...The devices are supposed to register a person as drunk after he's had the equivalent of two and a half beers. To some Kenyans, that's an insult. Like many African countries, this is a land of big drinkers, for whom pounding a dozen beers in a sitting - then driving home - isn't unusual.

"Who's going to take three beers and go home?" asked an incredulous Steve Chege, 31, a used-car dealer, as he lingered over his third Tusker - the best-selling national beer - in a downtown Nairobi bar one recent evening.

"Beer affects people in different ways. Some people could be totally drunk after half a glass. Me, I could be all right after two crates." A crate is 25 beers.

...Kenya's use of Breathalyzers follows their introduction in neighboring Uganda last year. Sold in the United States under the brand name Alcoblow, Kenya's machines are meant to detect blood-alcohol levels of 0.08 and above, same as the U.S. legal limit. 
December 29th, 2005