Bestämning av alkohol i utandningsluft kan ge fel mätvärde. Varning för ospecifik testning med vissa instrument
Engelsk titel: Determination of alcohol in exhaled breath may give wrong values. Warning for unspecific testing with some instruments
Läs online
Författare:
Email: anders.helander@ki.se
Språk: Swe
Antal referenser: 20
Dokumenttyp:
Fallbeskrivning
UI-nummer: 10011296
Sammanfattning
The analysis of alcohol (ethanol) in exhaled breath provides a non-invasive way of estimating the coexisting blood-alcohol concentration. Breath-test instruments are widely used by police authorities to control sobriety of motorists and also in clinical medicine and workplace testing when a person is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or must refrain from drinking as part of a treatment or rehabilitation program. Three main analytical principles are used to determine ethanol in breath; metal-oxide semiconductor, electrochemical sensor and infrared spectroscopy. The analytical specificity of instruments incorporating metal-oxide semiconductors is not satisfactory and we exemplify this by three clinical reports in which large discrepancies were found between the breath-test result and the concentration of alcohol determined in a blood sample. Hand-held breath alcohol analyzers are convenient to use in many situations but their limitations, such as calibration control and lack of selectivity, needs to be appreciated.