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The proof is in the numbers.
Overview
Alcohol
plays an important and integral part in almost every society in the world.
While not all alcohol usage is problematic, alcohol remains the most abused
drug in history. In the United States, alcohol plays a part in half the
automobile fatalities and nearly half of all industrial accidents. For
employers, alcohol abuse accounts for two thirds of all substance abuse
complaints and depletes a similar percentage from the health care benefit
budgets of American companies. While the responsible, adult use of alcohol has
its appropriate place in our society, an increasing number of public safety
officials, corporate officers and small business managers are concerned about
problems with alcohol abuse in the workplace and in public places, particularly
when the substance abuser is in control of a vehicle or heavy equipment. As a
result, there is a demand for more effective detection of alcohol impairment,
where possible, or of blood alcohol content (BAC) in individuals engaged in
work or driving.
Traditional testing has centered on the testing of blood alcohol content rather than impairment, since impairment is significantly difficult to prove without highly specialized and specific evaluation of the subject. Generally, professionals in the testing field have found it advantageous and practical to test blood alcohol content and to rely on set levels of content in lieu of proof of impairment. Generally, .10% or .08% BAC levels have been used by legislators and jurists as the benchmark for the regulation of behaviors related to, or negatively affected by, alcohol. Unfortunately, these testing modalities (such as Breathalyzer) require highly specific and accurate instrumentation which is both expensive and immobile. As a result, alcohol testing has presented problems for testing professionals in both the public or private sectors. The high cost of sensitive equipment that cannot be transported has meant that most private sector needs for alcohol testing have gone unfilled until the introduction of disposable breath testing devices.
The BreathScan® Alcohol
Detector
The BreathScan® Alcohol
Detector is considered by many to be the best example of these devices.
BreathScan® is a portable, disposable alcohol detector with an extremely
low unit cost that makes it suitable for general use in the workplace or other
remote locations. Various independent agencies have conducted validation
studies that examined the BreathScan® instrument's accuracy and suitability
as a preliminary screening device when used to determine probable cause for
more extensive testing. The following is a survey of their
findings.
U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration
The
NHTSA looked at the use of BreathScan® specifically as an aid to police
officers in making an objective evaluation in drunk driving cases. While not
intended as an evidenciary test, the NHTSA found BreathScan® suitable as a
first line of BAC quantification. The NHTSA determined that the BreathScan®
alcohol detector was able to accurately distinguish between alcohol levels
below and above .10% BAC (or .08% BAC for BreathScan® units calibrated at
the lower BAC level). Several tests at different room temperatures were
performed in accordance with established methodology. Since evaluation
specifications for preliminary test devices do not exist, the NHTSA used the
guidelines "Specifications for Evidential Breath Testers", specifically the
precision and accuracy tests, the blank reading test, the breath sampling test,
the ambient temperature test and mobile test from existing NHTSA guidelines.
Using standard aqueous alcohol solutions contained in 34-degree thermostats,
researchers duplicated breath alcohol concentrations in controlled conditions.
This breath sampling test was designed to yield maximum sampling consistency
and efficiency. The BreathScan® alcohol detector contains a crystalline
preparation which is hermetically sealed in a glass ampoule. The subject
breathes through the tube so as to deliver approximately two liters of breath
over the crystals. At .00% BAC (no alcohol present) the crystals remain
uniformly yellow. At .05% BAC, some of the crystals turn green. Above .10% BAC,
virtually all the indicators showed all the crystals turned green. At precisely
.10% most of them were fully changed and a small number were partially changed
with only a few yellow crystals remaining. This indicates a borderline
situation and should be treated as a caution to the operator. The DOT testing
was conducted with indicators calibrated for full crystal change at .10% BAC.
BreathScan® alcohol testers are also available calibrated for the .08% BAC
level, a figure becoming more widely adopted in many states as the legal limit
for the operation of a motor vehicle. No difference in test results was noted
when samples were compared under incandescent and fluorescent lighting.
W.R. Grace & Company
Fortune 500
company, W.R. Grace & Company conducted testing at their Davison Chemical
Division and produced results that concurred with DOT findings. They found that
small beds of the chemical agent in BreathScan® accurately distinguish
between alcohol concentrations representing BAC levels of .00%, .05% and .10%.
In their testing simulation, Grace used a Draeger Mark IIA Alcohol Breath
Simulator. The simulator passes air through a constant temperature bubbler
containing a predetermined concentration of alcohol and water. The alcohol
laden air is then passed through the BreathScan® device for ten seconds,
disconnected and allowed to sit for two minutes before evaluation. At .00% BAC,
all the crystals retained their yellow coloration. As low as .02% BAC, some
discoloration of crystals from yellow to blue-green occurred. At .06% BAC,
substantial color change occurred to the entire sample, with yellow residue. At
.08% BAC, there was less yellow remaining and at .10% BAC almost all the
original yellow coloration had disappeared. Grace tested samples of the testing
agent packed in both glass tubes and in BreathScan®'s patented glass
ampoules with similar results except that the color change produced in the
glass ampoules appeared to be slightly less intensive. They also noted a slight
concentration of colored crystals near the intake end of the ampoule.
Colorado Department of Health
The
Colorado Department of Health's Alcohol Test Program tested the BreathScan®
device to determine it's suitability for use by law enforcement personnel in
traffic stops. They noted that the unique packaging provided by the
BreathScan® ampoule effectively prohibits the contamination of the crystals
until the device is ready to be used. They also noted that the BreathScan®
alcohol detector was suitable for screening only, and should be backed up by
confirmation testing of bodily fluids. Colorado's testing is significant in
that it was conducted on live subjects for the .00% BAC benchmark. A
SmithWesson Mark IIA breath alcohol simulator was used to test alcohol
concentrations. Testing was conducted at 34-degree centigrade, as in the
previous two tests, and results were checked using gas chromatography. Testing
was conducted at .85% BAC and .108% BAC. At both levels significant
discoloration of the crystals occurred, enough to indicate that a subject's BAC
was in the impaired range and they found BreathScan® to be suitable for use
as screening device prior to further testing. In fact, the chief of the testing
program noted that BreathScan® was one of the better products they had
evaluated and was well suited for the market it is intended to serve.
Denver Police Department
Field studies
of BreathScan® were conducted by the Denver, Co. Police Department.
Officers used BreathScan® at traffic stops as a screening for drunk drivers
and found a 98% accuracy correlation. Of 200 tests of truck drivers, only four
BreathScan® tests were inconclusive. The Department considered this an
excellent rate of accuracy for a portable testing device.
Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes
Of
concern to medical professionals is the possibility that physiological
conditions not related to alcohol use might affect the test, particularly when
testing diabetics. Diabetics produce breath ketones, but when tested on the
largest degree of ketonemia on severely ill patients when admitted to intensive
care, at no time did the ketones discolor the BreathScan® crystals. The
testing at the Davis Center rules out the chance of a false positive for
acetone or ketones when checking for breath alcohol.
Drug Control and Teaching Center, King's College,
London
Results of the King's College
study, conducted on .08% BAC testers, support manufacturers' claims that
BreathScan® devices are capable of accurately detecting breath alcohol
concentrations at .08% BAC.
In a recent study, using a test protocol
similar to the one developed by Dr. David Cowan of King's College, London, an
independent laboratory measured the effectiveness and reproducibility of the
indicator color change at claimed alcohol concentration levels. Their
evaluation conclusion supported the claim that BreathScan® testers are
capable of detecting breath alcohol concentrations of .02%, .04%, .08% and
.10%.
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