Report Hand Sanitizer Alters the Results of Breathalyzer Tests in New Experiment

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If a police officer pulls you over for driving while intoxicated, you could be brought in for a breath alcohol test. If that happens, you’d better hope the test operator doesn’t slather their hands in an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, first.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers make frequent appearances in law enforcement offices—they’re often found next to the fingerprinting machines, for example. But they emit vapors just like regular alcohol that could disperse through the air and even enter the mouth. A new study confirms that these vapors can cause the breathalyzer to error out—or even report a positive reading.


“In virtually every jurisdiction in the US, there are restrictions about allowing subjects going to be tested to come into contact with alcohol in any form or fashion during the fifteen or twenty minutes, depending on the jurisdiction, immediately preceding the test,” study author Brian Lutmer from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Breath Alcohol Program told Gizmodo. “We want to make it clear to the operator, don’t subject yourself to being around alcohol, or allow alcohol fumes to be in the air—because that can also affect the test.”

Read more here. (Gizmodo)
 
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