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Things other than alcohol which could register a BAC


Sucking a Fishermen's Friend could get you into California DUI trouble

Police in Germany are warning motorists that sucking a Fishermen's Friend could get them into DUI trouble. It comes after a 24-year-old driver was found to be over the legal DUI /drink-drive limit during a routine DUI control in Munich. He was taken to the police station where DUI blood tests found he had no alcohol in his system.

The man was released after DUI officers found the strongest thing he had taken was a Fisherman's Friend. Forensic doctor Thomas Gilg said the essential oils contained in the throat sweets reacted in the same way as alcohol on hand-held DUI breathalysers. He said in tests they found just three of the mentholated sweets could cause a motorist to test three (3) times over the legal DUI limit.

Fisherman's Friend are strong menthol lozenges produced in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. Fisherman's Friend were originally developed by a young pharmacist called James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working in the extreme conditions of the Icelandic deep-sea fishing grounds. Originally developed as an extremely strong liquid remedy containing menthol and eucalyptus oil, Lofthouse made this liquid into small lozenges which were easier to transport and to administer. According to the manufacturer, the fishermen soon began to refer to the lozenges as their "friends", hence the name. The lozenges exist in their current form relatively unchanged since their creation. The lozenges still come in their famous paper packets, although these are now foil-lined.
Fisherman's Friend are now available in over a hundred countries, in a variety of flavours, some of which are only available in certain countries. Lofthouse do provide a mail order service allowing UK residents to obtain some of the more exotic or difficult to find flavours. Some flavours are sugar-free, for which the bags are striped:
• Original Extra Strong
• Aniseed
• Super Strong Mint
• Sugar-free (using sorbitol)
o Original
o Citrus
o Lemon
o Mint
o Apple and Cinnamon
o Strong Salmiak (Selected European Markets)
o Cherry
o Spicy Mandarin
o Cool Cassis

Original Lozenges contain the following ingredients as listed:
• Sugar
• Liquorice
• Edible Starch
• Edible Gum
• Menthol (0.9%)
• Eucalyptus Oil (0.15%)
• Capsicum Tincture

Chewing gum doubles Chewing gum doubles BAC on breathalyzer Chewing Gum Doubles BAC on Breathalyzer? (Myth or Fact?)

Chewing gum doubles BAC on breathalyzer
A guy was stopped on New Year's Eve and was required to take a DUI breath
test to register his BAC. The results came back above the legal limit of
08% in this state. He swears he had only had four beers the whole night,
but that he had been chewing gum - Orbit, Dentyne Ice - one of those
really strong mint gums.

He insists that the DUI arresting officer told him that the police love when people chew
those gums after drinking because it doubles the BAC that registers on the test.
So if he registered .10%, then really it should only have been .05% and he was safe
(or at least legal) to drive. Four beers could have scientifically made him a .04-.05%.


Truth about California DUI Breathalyzers

A breathalyser (or breathalyzer) is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC) from a breath sample. "Breathalyzer" is the brand name of one manufacturer of these instruments, but has become a genericized trademark for all such instruments. Intoxilyzer, Alcosensor, Alcoscan, Intoximeter and BAC Datamaster are other common brand names.

California DUI breath analyzers don't actually test blood alcohol content or concentration, which requires the analysis of a blood sample. Instead, they estimate breathalyzer BAC indirectly.

Two California DUI technologies are in use: (1) a spectrophotometer how to cheat a breathalyzer test that is used by police forces to detect the amount of alcohol in one's breath during evidential breath testing, and (2) fuel cell-based instruments breathalyzer versus urinalysis that are used at roadside screening.

Different types of California DUI machines use different techniques and larger machines generally yield better estimates than do hand-held models. alcohol breathalyzer testing statistics Therefore, some states don't allow alcohol breathalyzer data or breathalyzer and effexor "readings" from hand-held machines to be presented as evidence in DUI court. e.g. South Dakota did not permit data from the breathalyzer but relies entirely on blood tests to ensure accuracy.

Common California DUI breath testing problems

A major problem with some California DUI machines is that they not only identify the ethyl alcohol (or ethanol) found in alcohol beverages, but also other substances similar in molecular structure. Those California DUI machines identify any compound bar breathalyzer containing the methyl group structure. Over one hundred compounds can be found in the human breath at any one time and 70 to 80 percent of them contain methyl group structure. These are fair and scientifically-based ways to show the California DUI breathalyzer incorrectly detects breath test ethyl alcohol.

Important is the fact that the more different ethyl group substances the machine detects, the higher will be the false California DUI BAC estimate.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that dieters and diabetics can have acetone levels hundreds and even thousand of times higher than those in others. Acetone is one of the many substances that can be falsely identified as ethyl alcohol.

Substances in the environment can altoids cause a positive reading on a California DUI breathalyzer test can also lead to false BAC readings. For example, an alcohol-free subject was asked to apply a pint of contact cement to a how breathalyzer works piece of plywood and then to apply a gallon of oil-base paint to a wall. The total activity lasted about an hour. Twenty minutes later the subject was tested on an Intoxilyzer, which registered a BAC of .12 percent. This level is 50% higher than a BAC of .08, which constitutes legal intoxication.

Any number of other products found in the environment can cause erroneous California DUI BAC results. These include compounds found in lacquers, paint removers, celluloid, gasoline, and cleaning fluids. Other common things that can cause false BAC levels are alcohol, blood or vomit in the subject's mouth, electrical interference from cell phones, fisherman's friend, radios, tobacco smoke, dirt, and moisture.

California DUI Breath testers can be very sensitive to temperature and will give false readings alcohol and vicodin breathalyzer car security and breathalyzer if not adjusted or recalibrated to account for ambient or surrounding underage drinking without using breathalyzer breathalyzer description air temperatures. The temperature of the subject is also very important. Each one Fahrenheit degree of body temperature above normal will cause a substantial elevation (about 8%) in apparent BAC.

California DUI breath testing machines assume a 2,100-to-1 ratio in converting alcohol in the breath to estimates of alcohol in the blood. However, this ratio varies from 1,900 to 2,400 (and more) among people and also within a person over time. This variation also leads to false BAC readings.

Physical activity and home breathalyzer hyperventilation can lower apparent BAC levels. One study found that the BAC readings of subjects decreased 11 to 14% after running up one flight of stairs and 22-25% after doing so twice. Another study found a 15% decrease marijuana breathalyzer tests in BAC readings after vigorous exercise or hyperventilaion.

Some California DUI breath analysis machines assume a hematocrit (cell volume of blood) of 47%. However, hematocrit values range from 42 inaccurate breathalyzer results to 52% in men and from 37 to 47% in women. A person with a lower hematocrit will have a falsely high BAC reading.

Failure of California DUI law enforcement officers to use the devices properly or of administrators breathalyzer testing to have the breathalyzer test machines properly maintained and re-calibrated as required are additional sources of error.

Research indicates that California DUI breath tests can vary at least 15% from actual blood alcohol concentration. An estimated 23% of individuals tested will have a BAC reading higher than their true BAC.


California DUI Lawyer References
Hlastula, M. Physiological errors associated with alcohol breath tests . The Champion, 1985, 9,(6).
Pariser, J. L. In vino Veritas: the truth about blood alcohol presumption in state drunk driving laws. New York Law Review, 1989, 64(1), 141-181.

Peach, R. J. mints + breathalyzer tests Who tests the DUI test? Defense can't; New Jersey won't let lawyers inspect new breath tests. The National Law Journal, 2000, 23(6), A4.

Rosenblum. E. Breathlayzer machines are faulted once more. New Jersey Law Journal, 1988, 122(23), 5.

Sargeant, G. Breathalyzer accuracy challenged. Trial', 1989, 25(12), 22.

Taylor, L. Drunk Driving Defense. New York: Aspen Law and Business, 5th edition, 2000.

wikipedia.org

California DUI attorneys would fairly like the public to notice the possibilities here.