Breath-Alcohol Analysis in Chronic Bronchopulmonary Disease

Abstract

Twenty-four patients with chronic bronchopulmonary disease were studied to determine if measurements of breath alcohol accurately reflected blood-alcohol concentrations. After the patients consumed measured amounts of ethyl alcohol, blood-alcohol levels were determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and estimated by Breathalyzer analyses of expired air. In this study, the Breathalyzer method underestimated the results of GLC by approximately 15%. Similar differences in alcohol levels between blood and breath tests have been reported on populations not classified by pulmonary function. Pulmonary function impairment had no systematic effect upon breath-alcohol analysis. It is concluded that the Breathalyzer method is valid in the presence of chronic bronchopulmonary disease.