Instant, exact alcohol readings

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 24

Instant, exact alcohol readings

An electronic device developed by Siemens in Munich makes it possible to make exact and reliable measurements of alcohol contained in exhaled air within seconds.

The alcohol content per millilitre of blood is shown on an illuminated digital display. Wrong measurements as a result of rapid or interrupted breathing, or residual alcohol in the mouth, are recognised immediately and disregarded. The new device, called an “alcomat,” makes use of the fact that heat radiation, or infra red light, is absorbed by alcohol molecules. This process, in turn, results in the production of an electric signal, on the basis of which an exact measureinent of alcohol concentrations can be made. This new method of determining the blood-alcohol level is a vast improvement on the breathalyser test in which a traffic officer has to decide whether the individual apprehended should undergo a blood test on the basis of the amount of colour showing in the breathalyser. A laboratory test ultimately determines the exact blood-alcohol content This method has resulted frequently in proving the “alcoholic innocence” of the suspect and is inconvenient and not calculated to enhance public-police relations. Also it is a method that is wasteful of time and money and, on occasions, it has been found by the courts to be inexact.