Factors Affecting DC DUI Breath Tests

The results of a breath test can serve as solid evidence in a DC DUI case. Breath testing is taken seriously because it is typically quite accurate. However, there are various factors affecting the results of DC DUI breath tests. Medical conditions, alcohol based products like cough syrup, the temperature of someone’s mouth, and even someone’s teeth, can negatively impact the results of someone’s breath test. If you face DUI charges and question the accuracy of your breath test, speak with a skilled lawyer who can dispute the validity of your breath tests results, and can use that to bolster your defense.

How Alcohol-Based Products Affect Breath Tests

One of the factors affecting DC DUI breath tests is alcohol based products like mouthwash. When a person gives a sample on a breathalyzer the machine measures the deep lung air, the air coming from deep in their lungs. A valid test that registers on the breathalyzer machine requires a strong breath or it does not register. When a person takes a breathalyzer test, the officer instructs a person to blow harder and longer because they must get that deep lung air.

The deep lung air allegedly and theoretically is a more accurate measure of the blood alcohol level in a person’s bloodstream. The authorities do not want to test the mouth alcohol level. Cough syrup or mouthwash can put an amount of alcohol in a person’s mouth and artificially inflate the level of alcohol detected by the machine. The breathalyzer is allegedly testing the alcohol in the person’s bloodstream.

The breathalyzer incorrectly reports a high level of alcohol in the person’s bloodstream when there is alcohol in a person’s mouth, not in their bloodstream. Mouthwash and cough syrup most commonly have alcohol in them. If the police do not make sure the person does not ingest or take anything in their mouth within 20 minutes before the test, that will invalidate the test as artificially high.

Temperature of Breath’s Effect

Another one of the factors affecting DC DUI breath tests is that breath test machines are calibrated or undergo a periodic accuracy test using wet-bath simulators, the solution is supposed to be heated to a specific temperature, most often 34 degrees Celsius, plus or minus half of one degree. There can be an error if the temperature differs from that.

The issue then becomes if a person’s breath temperature is higher and that results in a higher level showing up on the breath test machine. For example, when a person blows a 0.07, it shows on the record machine as 0.08. As the levels go higher, the differentiation goes higher. When a person’s breath is outside of the norm for which the machine is calibrated, that can affect the accuracy of the breath test as it pertains to the specific subject at that specific time.

Effect of Teeth on Readings

A person’s teeth can affect the breath test if they have dentures, braces, bridges, or other orthodontic work. These artificial devices can trap particles of physical substances and liquid substances. If any alcohol is involved, it can inaccurately increase the amount of alcohol being read and registered by the breathalyzer machine as being in the person’s bloodstream. Actually, the alcohol comes from inside of a person’s mouth to some extent and makes the result artificially high.

Medical Conditions Impact

There are conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), acid reflux, hiatal hernia, and heartburn that can lead to inaccurately high results on a breathalyzer. When a person has these medical conditions, the stomach acid flows back up into the esophagus. It exits the stomach and goes into the person’s esophagus and up towards the throat.

If there is any alcohol on a person’s stomach and they suffer from one of these conditions, that can push the stomach acid back into their esophagus which includes alcohol. That registers similarly to mouth alcohol. The intent of a breathalyzer measurement is to be of the deep lung air because that is where the most accurate reading of the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream is found. When a person has any alcohol present in their esophagus or mouth, it registers on the machine. It results in a reading that is higher than the true reading of the actual blood alcohol content.

Benefit of an Attorney

Breath tests are supposed to be accurate but no method of testing is 100 percent foolproof. Factors affecting DC DUI breath tests include anything that interferes with the reading, such as mouthwash and cough syrup. If you believe the results of your breath test may have been affected by one of these factors, contact an adept DUI attorney who can use the potential inaccuracy of the breath tests as a part of your defense.