The Mouth Alcohol Effect After a “Mouthful” of Beer Under Social Conditions

Abstract

ABSTRACTFifteen male and fifteen female alcohol-free subjects consumed a “mouthful” of beer (5%v/v alcohol) from a beer bottle. Intoxilyzer® 5000C tests were conducted five and ten minutes after the consumption of beer. The volume of beer consumed by the male subjects (range 26–146 mL, mean 85 mL) was significantly greater than the volume consumed by the female subjects (range 16–141 mL, mean 37 mL). The subjects were allowed to talk during the experiment to simulate social conditions. A positive breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) occurred in 13 subjects (43%) five minutes after the consumption of beer (range 0.007–0.016 g/210 L breath, mean 0.011 g/210 L). Ten minutes after the consumption of beer, the measured BrAC's in all subjects were zero. There was no apparent correlation between the BrAC and the amount of beer consumed. The Intoxilyzer® 5000C did not identify any of these low BrAC's as “mouth alcohol”. This study shows the duration of a significant mouth alcohol effect for consuming beer under social conditions is less than the usual 15–20 minutes. This decreased deprivation time may facilitate more rapid breath alcohol screening tests in the field.