FREE NJ DWI EVALUATION

Understanding Breath Testing in New Jersey

Currently, most people who are arrested for DWI in New Jersey are breath tested on a machine called a Breathalyzer™. This machine was manufactured sometime in the early to mid 1950s. New Jersey has recognized the need to have better technology for breath testing, and has purchased the Draeger Alcotest 7110 MKIIIC™ machine. That machine has been tested and it’s scientific reliability is being challenged in court currently. see The New Breath Testing Machine in New Jersey

For now, we must deal with the Breathalyzer™ as the standard for testing in New Jersey. The Courts have continually held that this machine is accurate, despite scientific proof that there are built in errors to the breath testing theories. Were You Tested on the Alcotest 7110 or the Breathalyzer 900/900A?

Understanding this technology and how alcohol enters the body and is absorbed into the system is important.

Alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream through the walls of the stomach and small intestines. As alcohol enters the blood, it passes through the heart, lungs, and most importantly the brain. The passage through the brain causes the impairment associated with “drunken driving” and “failed sobriety tests”.

It is the blood flow through the lungs and the oxygen exchange there that results in the ability to measure breath to blood alcohol ratio. When the blood is processed in the lungs, carbon dioxide is expelled through the lungs, and the blood supply is replenished with oxygen. Along with the carbon dioxide, the alcohol molecules pass into the lungs. The presence of the alcohol molecules in this exhaled air us what is measured in breath testing.

The breath testing machines in general measure ratios of alcohol based on the average person and “Henry’s Law”. According to this ratio, one milliliter of blood contains exactly the same amount of alcohol as 2100 milliliters of exhaled alveolar breath. (Alveoli are tiny sacks that exchange the carbon dioxide for fresh oxygen in the lungs).

When you “give a deep breath”, alveolar air from deep within the lungs is obtained. The Breathalyzer™ traps 52.5 milliliters of exhaled air and holds it in a testing chamber. This 52.5 ml of air is equal to 1/40^th of 2100 milliliters. The Breathalyzer™ is calibrated to presume that at 34 degrees Celsius, a solution of .121 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of water will give off alcohol to the vapor of .10 grams per 210 liters of vapor. The Breathalyzer™ calculates the amount of alcohol present in 1/40^th of a milliliter of blood.

The breath sample flows through a potassium dichromate, silver nitrate, and sulfuric acid solution. When alcohol reacts with this solution, oxidation occurs, causing the alcohol to change to acetic acid. The potassium dichromate is destroyed, and the yellow coloring of the test liquid changes. The more alcohol in the system, the greater the change in color, and less light is absorbed in the sample. This change is compared to a reference ampoule inserted into the machine. The Breathalyzer™ measures the difference in light between the test ampoule and reference ampoule, and calculates a blood alcohol concentration.

The technology of the breath testing machine was explained best in Rommano v. Kimmelman, 96 N.J. 66, 79-80 (1984):

“The instrument is essentially a light balancing device. It contains a light source positioned between two photoelectric cells. Each cell is connected electronically to opposite sides of a current reading meter. When the light is turned on, electric energy is produced by the photoelectric cells which causes a current to flow into the meter. The meter needle will deflect from center one way or the other depending on which current is stronger. The light between the photoelectric cells can be mechanically moved by means of an adjusting knob geared to a finely threaded shaft closer to one cell or to the other. Because photoelectric energy produced by each of the cells varies with the distance from the light, the light can be moved so that the current strength produced by each is equal and opposite. The meter needle is centered indicating zero current flow through it. Between the light and each of the cells is a receptacle for an ampule--a sealed glass container with a solution of potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid. The light thus passes through each of the ampules before striking the photoelectric cell. The solution is a lemon yellow in color. With solutions of the same color the meter needle registers zero current. To conduct a test the seal on one of the ampules is broken and the breath sample is bubbled through that solution. Any alcohol in the breath reacts with the potassium dischromate and effectively fades or lightens the color of the solution. The more alcohol in the breath--the lighter the solution becomes. More light from the source is allowed to strike the photoelectric cell on that side than before; more photoelectric energy is produced; more current results and the meter needle then moves-- proportionately to the amount of alcohol in the breath. The source light can then be shifted by use of the threaded screw away from the test ampule and toward the reference ampule. In this fashion the amount of light striking each photoelectric cell can be equalized and the meter needle again brought to zero reading. The distance traveled by the source light on the threaded screw is thus a measure of the alcohol in the breath. By mechanical calibration this distance is read off on a separate scale as a percent of alcohol in the breath.”

Despite the courts’ certification of and reliance on the machine testing, there are several defenses that can be used to fight the results obtained in breath testing cases. Please call me at toll free 1-866-DWI-NJ.com 1-866-394-6526 or on my cell phone 856-889-5181 to discuss your case and possible strategies that can be used to defend you.