Diethyl ether interference with infrared breath analysis

Diethyl ether vapor may substantially interfere with breath alcohol analysis by instruments based on infrared absorption at 9.5 microns. Exposure of two volunteers simultaneously to diethyl ether vapor for one hour followed immediately by breath tests on the Draeger Alcotest 7110, Siemens Alcomat V5...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of analytical toxicology Vol. 16; no. 3; p. 166
Main Authors Bell, C M, Gutowski, S J, Young, S, Wells, D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.05.1992
Subjects
Adult
Autonomic Nervous System - drug effects
Breath Tests
Chromatography, Gas
Ethanol - analysis
Ether - analysis
Ether - pharmacology
Humans
Male
Psychomotor Performance - drug effects
Spectrophotometry, Infrared
Online AccessGet more information
ISSN0146-4760
DOI10.1093/jat/16.3.166

Cover

More Information
Summary:Diethyl ether vapor may substantially interfere with breath alcohol analysis by instruments based on infrared absorption at 9.5 microns. Exposure of two volunteers simultaneously to diethyl ether vapor for one hour followed immediately by breath tests on the Draeger Alcotest 7110, Siemens Alcomat V5.2F, and Seres Ethylometre 679T produced apparent alcohol readings in one subject of 0.4, 0.1, and 0.1 g/100 mL of blood respectively. Positive readings persisted in this subject for more than 3 hours. The second subject produced much lower readings of 0.03, 0.01, and 0.00, respectively. Readings persisted with the Alcotest 7110 for one hour. Gas chromatographic analyses of blood and breath samples confirmed that these readings were caused by diethyl ether and not ethanol. The blood concentration of diethyl ether in Subject A immediately after exposure was 25 mg/L. This level produced no clinically detectable neurological changes in the subject.
ISSN:0146-4760
DOI:10.1093/jat/16.3.166