{"id":4868,"date":"2021-03-22T00:43:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T00:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/?p=4868"},"modified":"2023-08-24T23:46:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T23:46:29","slug":"how-do-breathalysers-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/how-do-breathalysers-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How do breathalysers work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When a person drinks alcohol, some of that alcohol is breathed out as the body metabolises it. This can be measured using a breathalyser and it gives a pretty accurate indication of how much alcohol is in a person&#8217;s blood. The more alcohol in your blood, the more affected you are by it &#8211; slower reactions, more difficult to concentrate, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breathalysers are used because driving with excess blood alcohol, or &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistical-data-sets\/reported-drinking-and-driving-ras51#drink-drive-accidents-and-casualties\">drink driving<\/a>&#8216; causes significant social harm. They provide the first line of evidence (backed up with an evidential blood test) that a person is driving drunk, so that that person can be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three ways that breathalysers work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Infrared spectroscopy: Infrared light waves from a broadband infrared beam passes through a sample chamber onto a spinning filter wheel. IR light is partially absorbed by the molecules of alcohol. If you can figure out how much is absorbed, you can work out the blood alcohol content.<\/li><li>Fuel cell sensors oxidise the alcohol in the sample. As it&#8217;s oxidised, acetic acid, protons and electrons are given off. The electrical current from the electrons is measured and that gives the blood alcohol content.<\/li><li>Semiconductor oxide-based testing uses an ethanol-specific sensor. The sample is bubbled through one of two glass vials of the chemical reagent. The difference in the two samples is then compared to determine the BAC.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do you use a breathlyser?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A basic test may be conducted with the police officer holding the unit while you speak towards it. This gives a quick indication of zero alcohol, some alcohol (but below the legal limit) and some alcohol (possibly above the legal limit). If you register the latter, you&#8217;ll be asked to use a calibrated detection unit which will involve you blowing into a tube until enough breath can be collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is a breathlyser used?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If a police officer stops you and suspects you have been drinking, you may be asked to provide a breath alcohol reading using a breathalyser. If you fail that test you will be required to go to a police station with the officer and take an evidential breath test or blood alcohol test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you refuse the test you can be convicted of an offence that is the equivalent of being convicted with a BAC above the legal limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What affects a person&#8217;s BAC?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A person&#8217;s blood alcohol level is affected by several factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How much food they have eaten recently<\/li><li>What type of food they have eaten recently<\/li><li>How much liquid other than alcohol they have consumed<\/li><li>How much alcohol by volume they have consumed<\/li><li>The amount of body fat they carry<\/li><li>Their metabolism<\/li><li>Their gender<\/li><li>Their genetics<\/li><li>Whether the alcohol was fizzy or flat (alcohol in fizzy drinks is absorbed quicker)<\/li><li>Whether the person is menstruating.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How quickly can your blood alcohol concentration become over the limit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you drink concentrated alcohol on an empty stomach, you can be over the limit in as little as 10 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When a person drinks alcohol, some of that alcohol is breathed out as the body metabolises it. This can be measured using a breathalyser and it gives a pretty accurate indication of how much alcohol is in a person&#8217;s blood.<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/how-do-breathalysers-work\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[228],"class_list":["post-4868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","tag-alcohol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5781,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868\/revisions\/5781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mocktheorytest.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}