Georgia DUI Mouth Alcohol – Soy Sauce and Beer
Georgia breathalyzer tests are designed to analyze the amount of alcohol in your breath to determine your blood alcohol content (BAC). While they are supposed to measure alcohol from your deep lung tissue, they can easily be affected by alcohol in the mouth. How does this occur? Breathalyzers shoot infrared light from one chamber to the other while alcohol particles absorb the light. The machine then measures the amount of light that reaches the other side of the chamber to calculate your BAC during a DUI arrest. Unfortunately, breathalyzer tests are unable to tell the difference between deep lung air and mouth alcohol.The term “mouth alcohol” is pretty self explanatory:—it is residual alcohol that remains in the mouth. Mouth alcohol, which covers up deep lung air that would produce a more accurate result, is extremely concentrated and can produce a falsely inflated breath result.
Breathalyzer tests use a 1:2100 breath-to-blood ratio when calculating your BAC—that is, the breathalyzer takes the amount of alcohol in your breath sample and multiplies it by 2100 to determine the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream. That means that mouth alcohol has the potential to significantly alter your BAC results.
Mouth alcohol can be caused by a number of factors. Belching and acid reflux can push alcohol up from your stomach, while food and dental work can trap alcohol in your mouth. Swishing a small amount of beer in your mouth without consuming any additional beer can inflate the amount of alcohol in your mouth, thus increasing your results.
In fact, something as innocuous as soy sauce can affect your Georgia breathalyzer test results if the residue lingers in your mouth. That means that if you get pulled over after a sushi dinner and soy sauce is still in your mouth, you could be arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
The legal BAC limit for drivers under 21 years of age is only .02%, which means even a small amount of mouth alcohol could lead to a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest.
If you are facing Georgia drunk-driving charges after testing over the legal limit, you should immediately contact a DUI defense attorney to investigate whether mouth alcohol played a role. Please fill out our online form today to learn how our firm can help you fight your charges.
