The use of Breathalyzer machines is highly controversial as there are many issues relating to them that can significantly affect the outcome of your test. If you have been charged with DUI based solely on the results of a Breathalyzer test you need to know that this evidence against you can potentially be very faulty. Consider the following design flaws of the highly-touted Breathalyzer, which has been responsible for sending many people to jail:
Sample Collected
The breathing techniques and the temperature can greatly affect your test results. The average Breathalyzer is calibrated to take in a breath sample that lasts over ten seconds and delivers approximately two liters of air. If you breath into the Breathalyzer longer than ten seconds a much higher amount of alcohol may be registered, and if you breath shallowly or hyperventilate while breathing into the machine, more mouth alcohol is blown, again, giving a false high reading.
Breath temperature can also affect the final results as the machines are calibrated to record breath blown at 34 C, just a few degrees below your normal body temperature. A temperature even slightly higher than the 34 C can give a falsely high reading, and blowing at a higher temperature can result from a fever, sitting in a hot tub, physical exertion, or sitting in the back of a hot police car.
Other Chemicals Present
Breathalyzer tests can read other chemicals besides just the alcohol in your breath. Those who work around chemicals can absorb them and they may show up in lung tissue. This could include such chemicals as nitrous oxide, ethylene, toluene, or isopropanol, and could easily be present in the lungs of painters, dry cleaners or those who work in nail salons as well as other professions who are exposed to chemicals. Even if you have been exposed relatively recently to gasoline, paint or lacquer, your test results can be falsely elevated. You could end up with a high reading on your Breathalyzer test merely by virtue of your profession.
Diet
A low carbohydrate diet can alter the results of the Breathalyzer test. If you have been on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, such as Atkins, your body will produce ketones during the metabolism of your food. If you then consume carbohydrates, such as those found in alcohol, the ketones in your blood can produce another type of alcohol, called isopropyl alcohol, and most Breathalyzer tests do not distinguish between the two. Once again a falsely high test result can occur, and you can find yourself being charged with DUI.
Always Talk to a Lawyer
If you have been charged with DUI, and the prosecution is basing these charges primarily on the results of your Breathalyzer test, run--don't walk--to the office of a highly skilled DUI attorney who knows how to defend you against the inconsistencies of a Breathalyzer test.
