Alcohol Breath test: How Does It Work?
Few people have an idea what an alcohol breath test is. The test simply measures how much alcohol is in your blood by measuring a sample of the air you breathe out.
The test is typically performed by law enforcement officers using a variety of portable machines. In the old days one was asked to blow up a balloon in one big breath and then the air collected was released in a graduated tube with yellow bands. As the concentration of alcohol increases the number of yellow bands in the tube change to green. The green bands then reflect the amount of alcohol you have in your body. For the electronic method, one just blows into the machine which quickly checks the amount of alcohol in your breath and gives a read out on the machine.
Alcohol breath tests are painless and usually quite accurate. Any person with an alcohol levels of 0.08% and above is considered legally drunk. Many states have dropped this legal limit to 0.04-0.05%.
One has to understand that the level of alcohol in the breath and the driving ability are not related. Some individuals may have very low levels of alcohol and yet may not even be stand up straight whereas others may have high levels and drive perfectly.
Today, there are portable machines available for sell to the public. The test may help you decide whether to drive or not. Anytime you drive with alcohol on board, not only are the risks of a car accident increased, but the legal implications are ominous if you get caught.
3 Responses to “Alcohol Breath test: How Does It Work?”
June 29th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Dear Joe: There has been a lot of articles relating to this ‘breath tester’ for individuals. That’s fine, however, I have a true story to share, of how Alcohol destroyed mine & my late husbands health. It happened very innocently, but once it gets a hold of a person, THERE’S NO GETTING RID OF IT ever !!!!!!!! At least with Cancer and other health problems, there is somewhat of a solution, maybe or not. But there is none for this one at all.
Please let me know, if I may send you my 2 pg e-mail letter, covering this.
Thankyou very much.
Sheila
ph. no. 250-995-1643
June 29th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
New age technologies are going better and they have better ways to check everything.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:41 am
good to know, thanks
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