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Effect of Age and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease on the Breathalyzer Estimation of Blood Alcohol Level
Author(s) -
Wilson Allan,
Sitar Daniel S.,
Molloy William D.,
McCarthy Donal
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1987.tb01919.x
Subject(s) - citation , art history , art , medicine , psychology , library science , computer science
Twenty volunteers, 10 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 10 with no disease, ingested a vodka cocktail. Serial determinations of blood alcohol level (BAL) by gas-liquid chromatography and simultaneous Breathalyzer estimations of BAL were used to calculate blood:breath alcohol partition coefficients (PCs). Data from the present study were combined with data obtained in a previous study using identical methodology to examine the relationship between age and BAL estimation. It was found that the Breathalyzer significantly underestimated BAL as a function of age. It was hypothesized that the underestimation may be due to closing volume (CV) as the Breathalyzer samples end-expiratory breath.