Breath Alcohol Testing

The Intoxilyzer 5000 - the machine you may have blown into at the police station - works on the theory of Infrared Spectrometry (IR), which is the absorption of infrared light. There is a light bulb at one end of the test chamber, and at the other end is a filter wheel with five filters and a detector. As you blow into the tube the theory is that alcohol will cause the absorption of light at a given wavelength, and this absorption of energy will be detected and measured.

The amount of breath actually measured is very small, because the test chamber only holds 82 cc. and must be converted to a number we will understand. The conversion the machine makes would be similar to taking a paper towel tube and increasing it to the size of a 55-gallon drum. Any error in the testing will be multiplied by that amount.

How trustworthy is the breath Alcohol test?

Close enough for government work! In Georgia you will be given two tests and those tests must be within .02 of each other. If your first test was .08, an acceptable second test could range from .06 (not intoxicated) to .10.

What are they hiding?

Neither the State nor the manufacturer of the machine will allow anyone other than law enforcement to test the machine for its accuracy and reliability. For a procedure to be accepted as accurate and reliable in the scientific community, it must be open and available for the scientific community to test and retest the procedure. This is not permitted with the Intoxi-liar.

Do you trust government math?

The number produced by the machine comes from a  mathematical formula contained within a source code in the machine. The manufacturer will not divulge this formula, claiming it is ‘proprietary’. In most states including Georgia the courts are not willing to divulge the secret formula that is used to determine your test value. Literally---you could go to jail based on a secret formula!

Why don’t they save a sample when your freedom is on the line?

A sample of your breath could be saved for retesting for about $2, but the State chooses not to save it. The courts have said they should save evidence, but if it is not saved, that’s okay.

A few of the many other issues that can affect the accuracy of a breath test are:

• Power surges
• Cell phones
• Body temperature
• Mouth contaminates (smokeless tobacco, dentures, denture adhesives, mints, lip balm, etc.)
• Exposure to certain chemicals
• Diabetes
• Fever
• Gastric reflux disease
• Certain diets
• Disease of the lungs
• Periodontal (gum) disease
• Faulty bridge work
• Airbags (Tyndall Effect)
• Machine malfunctions
• Improper maintenance
• Improper training