Personal Breathalizer

Personal Breathalysers Can Tell You Whether You Should Be Driving

November 3, 2007 on 8:14 am | In Personal Breathalizer

Personal breathalysers are a lifesaving device that can be used when you have been at a party and don’t know if you have had too much to drink.  They can tell your blood alcohol level (BAL) and can also tell you if you should be driving depending on what the numbers say as far as your alcohol level.  Personal breathalysers can also save you from being caught driving while under the influence of alcohol.  So if you know you will be drinking heavily at a party or while out one night, you should take one of these devices with you for safety.

Personal breathalysers are just becoming popular on the market.  They are devices to detect the blood alcohol level (BAL) in your breath.  Why the breath you ask?  Because any alcohol you drink gets absorbed into the mouth, esophagus and stomach.  It is also not digested or changed once it enters the bloodstream.  It will cross into the lungs and once it mixes with the air in the lungs, it will evaporate and be exhaled.

Personal breathalysers can tell you what your alcohol blood level is at that given time.  If those numbers are above .07 percent, the you should not be driving.  In fact, you should not drive at all if you have had just one drink.  The impairment caused could cost you or someone else their lives.  If your level is above .08, you can be charged with driving while intoxicated.

There are three types of breathalysers that are used today.  They are a Breathalyser, an Intoxilyser, and an Alcosensor.  The Breathalyser shows a color change if there is a reaction with any alcohol.  The Intoxilyser uses Infrared Spectroscopy to identify alcohol.  The Alcosensor looks for fuel cells in the chemical reaction that are part of alcohol.

If you are wondering how to pass a breathalyser test, there are several ideas about how that can be done.  No one has proven any of these as of yet.  In fact, the popular television show MYTHBUSTERS proved that nothing would help you pass a breathalyser test.  But people are still trying to come with ways to do just that.

Some have said that using a type of activated charcoal may help as it absorbs any air that has alcohol vapors.  They also say use some kind of oxidizing gas such Nitrogen Oxide, Oxide, or Chlorate.

Other ideas have included mouthwash or Binaca breath spray, these have succeeded in raising the blood alcohol level even higher.  Other ideas include eating chocolate, chewing gum, smoking, drinking orange juice, placing a penny in your mouth before the test, squirting mustard in your mouth as soon as the police car lights come on behind you, eating peanuts, and trying to hyperventilate before you take the test.  Some say just refuse to take the test altogether.  It will be less evidence for them to use against you in court.  But if you refuse, the courts can suspend your license for up to 120 days.

The best recourse in passing a breathalyser is not to drink and drive at all.  If you are drinking, make sure you have a designated driver and that you will get home safely without hurting anyone else.