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Effect of Hyperthermia on Breath-Alcohol Analysis

Mild hyperthermia to the extent of a 2.5°C increase above normal body temperature was produced by immersion of ethanol-intoxicated subjects in a warm water bath. Hyperthermia did not influence the blood-alcohol decay curve of the subjects. Hyperthermia did cause a significant distortion of the breat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 1989-07, Vol.34 (4), p.836-841
Main Authors: Fox, GR, Hayward, JS
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Mild hyperthermia to the extent of a 2.5°C increase above normal body temperature was produced by immersion of ethanol-intoxicated subjects in a warm water bath. Hyperthermia did not influence the blood-alcohol decay curve of the subjects. Hyperthermia did cause a significant distortion of the breath-alcohol decay curve, up to as much as a 23% increase above blood-alcohol concentration. The magnitude of this distortion effect was calculated to be a 8.62% increase in breath-alcohol concentration over blood-alcohol concentration for each °C increase in core body temperature. The forensic relevance of these results is that further support is given to previous recommendations that temperature monitoring be included in procedures for breath-alcohol analysis. This leads to the recommendation that mouth temperature be measured before breath sampling to screen for abnormal body temperature and to allow for potential use of a "temperature correction factor." This modification to existing analytical procedures would optimize the reliability of breath-ethanol analysis for prediction of blood-ethanol concentration.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1520/JFS12711J