Citation

Huck H. Blutalkohol 1978; 15(3): 200-208.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety and Bund gegen Alkohol und Drogen im Straßenverkehr, Publisher Steintor Verlag)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An electrochemical method (ECM) is presented which allows the direct determination of the alcohol content of blood, serum and other body fluids. In order to check the reliability of the method, 103 comparative measurements were performed using gaschromatography as a reference. The sample material consisted of 96 different serum samples, six urines and one brain liquor. No systematic difference could be detected. In the concentration range between 0.1 and 6(per mille) (83 serum samples), the mean value of the ratio ECM/GC ('pair quotient') was 1.001 (plus or minus) 4.53 x 10-3, and the standard deviation for ECM was 3.6%. In the concentration range between 0 and 0.1(per mille) (16 samples), the maximum deviation ('pair difference') was 0.03(per mille). No difference was detected in the 10 alcohol-free samples. The results indicate that the electrochemical method seems to meet the forensic requirements for the determination of blood alcohol. Using the design described which has only one cell, one determination is possible every 10 min. For larger series of measurements, devices containing several cells are to be recommended.