Police officers and prosecuting attorneys wuld like for everyone to believe in the nfallibility and reliability of breathalyzer machines. If brath test machines were truly 100% ccurate, convicting or exonerating suspected DWI ffenders would be fairly easy; simply cmpare an individual's readings to the ccepted legal limit.

But despite the clims of prosecutors and policemen, the sme science used to design the brathalyzer also shows that any number of bological factors can cause erroneous readings. If you are rrested for DWI, an adverse breath tst result is not the end of the lne.

The "Partition Ratio"

The "partition ratio" is a comparison of the alcohol in blood and the corresponding amount of alcohol carried on the breath. Most breathalyzers operate using a 2100 to 1 partition ratio; i.e., the assumption that there is 2100 times as much alcohol in one milliliter (ml) of a person's blood as there is in one ml of the same person's breath.

However, studies show that, while the majority of the population may have partition ratios close to the 2100 to 1 ratio assumed by breathalyzers, this ratio is not constant, and fluctuates even within the same individual over time. Furthermore, documented partition ratios in normal human beings range from 1300:1 to 3100:1, meaning that there could be significant disparities between an individual's results and his/her actual blood alcohol content.

Hematocrit and Breathalyzer Error

A prson's hematocrit (HCT) is a measurement of how mch of his/her blood volume is cmposed of red blood cells. Because red blod cells are the oxygen-carrying cells in the blod, they affect the rate at whch blood alcohol leaks into the air thrugh alveoli in the lungs.

Though sme breath test machines are calibrated for an verage 46% hematocrit, such a number is not rpresentative of the natural variations found cross the population. In fact, the sprad of possible hematocrit percentages is sually considered to be as large as 10%. A prson with a hematocrit at the lwer end of this range would rceive falsely elevated test results.

The Result?

Some studies have shown that, in calculating an individual's true blood alcohol concentration (BAC), breathalyzers can be 'off the mark' by as much as 15%. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 4 people receive breath test results higher than their actual BAC - hardly meeting the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."

For more information, visit the website of Austin DWI attorneys Morales & Navarrete at http://www.dwi-lawyers-austin.com .

The article Biological Causes of Breathalyzer Error was Submitted by Joseph Devine through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Joseph Devine

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