The Effect of Salbutamol on Breath Alcohol Testing in Asthmatics

Abstract

Subjects suffering from asthma can occasionally experience difficulty in providing adequate breath samples for evidential breath alcohol testing devices and may therefore resort to the use of bronchodilators such as salbutamol to improve their respiration. Experiments showed that although salbutamol caused bronchodilation it did not affect breath alcohol levels of asthmatics who have been drinking. The blood:breath alcohol ratios obtained from asthmatics were within the normally recorded range before and after use of salbutamol. We conclude that the use of salbutamol by asthmatics does not affect the reliability of measurements made by evidential breath alcohol testing devices.

PDE4 inhibitors in COPD—a more selective approach to treatment

“…Figure 3 Mechanisms of PED4 inhibition in COPD, adapted with permission from Torphy et al 14 occur with theophylline when plasma levels rise above 20 mg/ml, e.g. cardiovascular events, including arrythmias 44 and central nervous system events, including convulsions. 45 In particular, careful plasma monitoring and dose adjustments are required in smokers and elderly patients.…”

Comparison of the Analytical Capabilities of the BAC Datamaster and Datamaster DMT Forensic Breath Testing Devices

“…Other perennial challenges include miscellaneous workplace solvents, paint or turpentine use, or acetaldehyde on breath being mistaken for ethanol by the Datamaster. Some of these claims have been repeatedly disproven in the literature (9,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(38)(39)(40)(41), as most such solvents and compounds are toxic or lethal in very small doses (46), and so would not be expected to be present in the breath of living human subjects at levels which could significantly interfere with a breath test result.…”

“…KEYWORDS: forensic science, Datamaster, DMT, breath alcohol testing, radiofrequency interference, interferents, objects in mouth, length of blow, mouth alcohol Breath alcohol testing is often subjected to legal challenges to the reliability of the instrument. The potential effects of mouth alcohol (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), objects or jewelry in the mouth (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16), solvents and other chemicals (9,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), endogenous acetone (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35), gastroesophageal reflux disorders (36,37), and acetaldehyde (38)(39)(40)(41) on the breath test result have been raised as objections for so long that most of these have been investigated in controlled experiments in response. Although most of these issues have been disproven in laboratory and field studies (9,17,(38)…”

“…Breath alcohol testing is often subjected to legal challenges to the reliability of the instrument. The potential effects of mouth alcohol (1–10), objects or jewelry in the mouth (11–16), solvents and other chemicals (9,17–27), endogenous acetone (28–35), gastroesophageal reflux disorders (36,37), and acetaldehyde (38–41) on the breath test result have been raised as objections for so long that most of these have been investigated in controlled experiments in response. Although most of these issues have been disproven in laboratory and field studies (9,17,38–41), they are still introduced in court as possible defenses.…”