Abstract
This chapter discusses the basics of alcohol measurement and the influence of biological and environmental factors on the analysis methods for breath alcohol concentrations. Because it has been detected that ethanol (= alcohol) is exhaled with breath, a lot of research has been done concerning Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC), measurement of BrAC and its relationship with Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Methods used for forensic BAC determination are accepted as precise and accurate. An estimation of BAC can also be done by Widmark's formula. Devices for BrAC measurement were formerly based on chemical color change, whereas modern instruments use infrared absorption or electrochemical oxidation reactions of ethanol. The alcohol is distributed between capillary blood in the lung and alveolar air according to Henry's law. BrAC is therefore dependent on body and environmental temperature. Accurate BrAC determination has to be done in end-exhaled breath, assuming that this alveolar air is saturated with ethanol. Hyper- or hypoventilation or the breath volume can therefore influence breath ethanol levels. BrAC is also dependent on the state of alcohol metabolism the tested person is in. In the absorptive phase BrAC is higher than the corresponding (venous) BAC.
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