The Borkenstein Breathalyzer: Looking Back to the Beginning of Evidentiary Breath Alcohol Testing a

[...]successful was the Breathalyzer, in fact, that the proper trade name, Breathalyzer®, became synonymous with breath alcohol testing and the detection of impaired drivers, and remains a term in our collective lexicon to this day. Since the first truly empirical measurement instrument for impaired...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science review 2025-01, Vol.37 (1), p.19-29
Main Author: Semenoff, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Breath tests
Chemical reactions
Crime laboratories
Light
Nitrates
Potassium
Reagents
State police
Sulfuric acid
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Summary:[...]successful was the Breathalyzer, in fact, that the proper trade name, Breathalyzer®, became synonymous with breath alcohol testing and the detection of impaired drivers, and remains a term in our collective lexicon to this day. Since the first truly empirical measurement instrument for impaired driving was Borkenstein's Breathalyzer, perhaps it would be valuable to examine how that instrument worked. The Breathalyzer, with its operational strengths and weaknesses, set the tone for much of the early case law with regard to breath alcohol testing, and more importantly, established some of the operational requirements for breath alcohol testing still used today. Components and Operation of the Breathalyzer There were four main components in the Breathalyzer: * The reagent solution; * The optical bench (photometer assembly); * The breath chamber (piston and cylinder assembly); and · Cam & cam shaft linkage assembly (the BrAC scale) The instrument itself used simple circuitry, amechanical piston and gas delivery system to collect the sample of breath and relied upon the change in color of a chemical reagent solution when combined with ethanol.
ISSN:1042-7201