The
scientific theory that prosecutors rely on to show that a breathalyzer reading
is a reliable way of testing blood alcohol concentration, is a concept known as
"Henry's Law."
Henry's
Law essentially explains that a numerical relationship exists between the
amount of alcohol in your blood and the amount in your lungs. At a fixed
temperature, the numerical relationship between the alcohol in the gas (breath)
can be related to the alcohol in the liquid (blood).
The
ratio that's commonly used in breathalyzers is 2100 to 1. This means that 2100
milliliters of breath will contain the same amount of alcohol as 1 milliliter
of blood.
Most
importantly, the concept of Henry's Law has two fundamental flaws when it is
applied to breathalyzer testing for blood alcohol concentration.
The
first flaw is the assumption that breath and body temperature are fixed or
constant. When air is exhaled, the alveolar air travels through the upper
respiratory tract. A drop in temperature occurs before the air is exhaled,
which physiologically prevents the breath temperature from remaining fixed or
constant.
The
other big flaw is that every person has a different ratio of blood to breath in
their body, yet the breathalyzer device converts the reading by using the 2100
to 1 ratio in order to calculate a subject's blood alcohol concentration. If
the subject's breath to blood ratio is different from 2100 to 1, then the
reading is inaccurate.
For more information on the relationship between blood alcohol and DUI, please visit www.Mironerlaw.com.
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