Alcohol

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AlcoholAlcohol Testing for DUIs
By K.G. Wilson Virginia Tech Police Department
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What is Forensic Toxicology?

• Toxicology
• Science of poisons, embracing the physical and
  chemical study of all the known poisonous
  substances, as well as the methods of testing...
  
• Toxicologists
• Detect and identify any drugs or poisons present
  in a person's body fluids, tissues, and organs.
  This type of investigation is conducted not only
  on the victim but, when possible, also on the
  suspected perpetrator of the crime.

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Types of Toxicologist

• Descriptive Toxicologist
• Performs toxicity test to evaluate the risk that
  exposure poses to humans
  
• Mechanistic Toxicologist
• Attempts to determine how substances exert
  deleterious effects on living organisms
  
• Regulatory Toxicologist
• Judges whether or not a substance has low enough
  risk to justify making it available to the
  public
  

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Types of Alcohol

• Methanol
• Ethanol
• Isopropanol
• Butanol

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Methanol

• Poisonous alcohol a colorless, volatile,
  poisonous, water-soluble liquid that is used as a
  solvent, a fuel, and in antifreeze for motor
  vehicles.
• Formula CH3OH
• Toxicity Metabolites 75ml
• Also called wood alcohol or wood spirit

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Ethanol

• Liquid in alcoholic beverages a colorless liquid
  with a pleasant smell that is produced naturally
  from fermentation by yeasts and other
  microorganisms. It is used in alcoholic
  beverages, as a solvent, and in the manufacture
  of other chemicals.
• Formula C2H5OH
• Toxicity Metabolites 400-500ml
• Also called grain alcohol

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Isopropanol

• Colorless flammable alcohol used in antifreeze a
  colorless flammable alcohol used in antifreeze
  and rubbing alcohol and as a solvent. Also used
  in denaturant and antiseptic
• Formula C3H7OH
• Toxicity Metabolites 250ml

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Butanol

• Toxic liquid a colorless toxic liquid with four
  different molecular structures (isomers). It is
  used as a solvent in such items as paint remover,
  and also in the manufacture of other organic
  substances.
• Formula C4H9OH
• Toxicity Metabolites 100ml
• Also called butyl alcohol

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Three Major Types of Alcoholic Beverages

• Fermented
• Distilled
• Fortified

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Fermented

• Beer and wine are the most commonly fermented
  beverages. These beverages and produced by
  allowing the fermentation process to take place,
  filtering the beverage, and then packaging it for
  use.
• In the U.S., beer typically has an alcohol
  content of approximately 4, where wine usually
  has an alcohol content of 10-12.5. If
  conditions are optimal, then the maximum alcohol
  content attained by fermentation is approximately
  15 (Home made wines)

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Distilled Beverages

• All Liquors (Whisky, rum, vodka, ect.) are
  distilled beverages produced by fermentation
  their respective raw materials (grains, molasses,
  potatoes, beets, ect.).
• The resultant mixture is distilled, a process
  where the mash, wine, or other alcohol-containing
  mixture is heated.
  
• When a solution of alcohol and water is heated,
  the alcohol will boil first, since it boils at
  78.3c
  
• As the alcohol boils, the vapors are collected
  and condensed.
  
• Alcohol is then used to produced a distilled
  beverage, which contains higher alcohol content
  than do fermented beverages.

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Fortified

• Wines are the most common beverages of this
  type.
  
• Fortified wines typically contain 18-20 alcohol
  and can be even higher in alcohol content, which
  is achieved by either adding alcohol from another
  source or by distillation.
• The wine is distilled to separate the alcohol
  from the fruit juice.
  
• Portion of the fruit juice is removed for use in
  other food products, and the distilled alcohol is
  mixed with the remaining fruit juice to produce a
  fortified wine.

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Beverage TypeApproximate Alcohol Content

• BEER
• BRANDY
• CHAMPAGNE
• CIDER
• GIN
• VODKA
• WHISKEY
• WINE, FORTIFIED
• WINE, RED WHITE

• 3.5-6
• 50
• 10-14
• 8-10
• 40-50
• 40-50
• 40-50
• 14-30
• 10-14

In the United States, the proof of an alcoholic
beverage is twice the percentage of alcohol by
volume. Meaning an 86 proof bottle of whiskey
contains 43 alcohol by volume.
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Routes of Absorption

• Inhalation
• Injection
• Insertion
• Skin Contact
• Absorption from Gastrointestinal Tract

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Inhalation

• 62 effective
• Ethyl alcohol is readily absorbed by lung tissue
• Any person with a concentration of alcohol high
  enough to produce a significant rise in blood
  levels would irritate the tissue lining the
  esophagus.

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Injection

• Very Effective.
• Very easy to overdose with this method.
• Alcohol is detectable in the blood almost
  immediately after injection into a muscle, or
  instantaneously when administered intravenously.

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Insertion

• Enema
• Alcohol is readily absorbed by the large
  intestine (colon)

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Skin Contact

• Experiments have shown that no detectable blood
  levels have been obtained from alcohol rubs when
  the subject could not inhale the alcohol.
  
• Meaning no BAC is absorbed this way.

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Absorption from Gastrointestinal Tract

• Alcohol is absorbed by various parts of the
  gastrointestinal tract by
  
• Mouth mouth lining
• Stomach 25
• Small Intestine - 75

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Rate of Absorption

• Vary from person to person
• Individuals body
• Alcohol begins to pass into the bloodstream
  within one to two minutes after it is consumed.
  
• Nearly all of the ingested alcohol is absorbed
  within 45 mins. During normal social drinking
  conditions, alcohol is often absorbed in less
  than 30 mins.

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Factors that affect the Rate of Absorption

• Absorption through the stomach wall is slow and
  represents only a portion of total alcohol
  intake.
  
• Absorption through the small intestine is rapid.
• Dilution of the alcoholic beverage and the
  presence of food in the stomach affect the rate
  of absorption.

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What Happens when you Drink
Alcohol increases the risk of heart disease,
cancer and liver failure. When alcohol is presen
t in the liver (1) it preempts the breakdown of
fat which accumulate within the liver cells. As
fatty cells enlarge they can rupture (2) or grow
into cysts(3) that replace normal cells. After
years of heavy drinking, fibrous scar tissue(4)
or cirrhosis, impedes the normal flow of arterial
and venous blood through the organ
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BRAIN
Even a healthy brain (A) loses cells, but
long term heavy drinking can speed degeneration.
The alcoholic brain (B) often shows signs of
atrophy which is wasting away of body tissue, an
organ. the failure of an organ or part to grow
or develop, as because of insufficient nutrition.
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Liver
Heavy drinking can cause a health liver (C)
to become fatty and enlarged (D) an early
and reversible stage of liver disease.
Cirrhosis (E) or scarring can lead to liver failu
re and death
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Stages of Acute AlcoholicInfluence/Intoxication

• Sobriety
• Euphoria
• Excitement
• Confusion
• Stupor
• Coma
• Death

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Sobriety

• No apparent influence
• Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation
• Slight changes detectable by special tests

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Euphoria

• Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness
• Increase self-confidence
• Decreased inhibitions
• Decrease of attention, judgment and control
• Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests
• BAC .03 - .05
• Person also has feeling of warmth, skin is
  flushed

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Excitement

• Emotional instability, decreased inhibitions
• Loss of critical judgment
• Impairment of memory, comprehension
• Decreased sensory response, increased reaction
  time
  
• Some muscular incoordination and slowing of
  reflexes
  
• BAC .08-.10

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Confusion

• Disorientation, mental confusion, dizziness
• Exaggerated emotional states (fear, anger,
  grief)
  
• Disturbance of sensation and of perception of
  color, form motion dimensions
  
• Decreased pain sense
• Impaired balance, muscular incoordinations,
  staggering gait, slurred speech, double vision
  
• BAC .10-.15

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Stupor

• Apathy, general inertia, approaching paralysis
• Marked decreased response to stimuli
• Marked muscular incoordination, inability to
  stand or walk
  
• Vomiting, incontinence of urine and feces
• Impaired consciousness, sleep or stupor
• Vomiting
• BAC .25 or greater

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Coma

• Complete unconsciousness, coma anesthesia
• Depressed or abolished reflexes
• Subnormal temperature (low)
• Incontinence of urine and feces
• Impairment of circulation and respiration
• Possible death
• BAC .35 or greater

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Death

• Death from respiratory paralysis
• BAC .50 or greater

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Intoxilyzer Model 5000
The breathalyzer indirectly determines the
quantity of alcohol consumed by measuring the
absorption of light by potassium dichromate
before and after its reaction to alcohol
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Field Sobriety Testing

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
• Walk and Turn
• One-leg Stand
• ABC
• Finger Dexterity Test
• Counting
• Finger to Nose

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2001 National StatisticsofAlcohol Related
Offense
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Driving Under the Influence 946,694 arrest Male
789,198 Female 157,496 Liquor Law violatio
n 408,203 Male 311,971 Female 96,232 Drun
kenness 423,561 Male 365,393 Female 58,168
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2001 Virginia Alcohol Related Offenses

• Driving under the Influence
• 20,622
• Liquor Laws
• 7,909
• Drunkenness
• 18,875

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DUI Facts

• Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes
  rose 4 from 17,380 (2000) to 17,448 (2001).
  
• 17,448 represents (41 of the total traffic
  fatalities for the year)
  
• Of this 17,448 fatalities in alcohol-related
  crashes during 2001 represents an average of one
  alcohol-related fatality every 30 minutes.
  
• In 2001, 35 of all traffic fatalities occurred
  in crashes in which at least one driver or non
  occupant had a BAC of 0.08 or greater.
  
• More than 1/3 of all pedestrians 16yrs or older
  killed in traffic crashes were intoxicated.

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DUI Facts cont

• The highest intoxication rate in fatal crashes in
  2001 were recorded for drivers 21-24 years old
  (33), this was followed by ages 25-34 (28) and
  35-44 (25)
• NHTSA estimates that minimum drinking age laws
  have saved 20,970 lives since 1975.

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Virginia 2001 Traffic Fatalities

• Total Fatalities - 935
• BAC (.00) - No Alcohol
• 595 64
• BAC (0.01-0.07) - Low Alcohol
• 54 6
• BAC 0.08 High Alcohol
• 287 31
• BAC 0.01 Any Alcohol
• 340 36

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Virginia DUI Laws

• 18.2-266 Driving motor vehicle, engine, ect.,
  while intoxicated, ect.
  
• 18.2-266.1 Persons under age twenty-one driving
  after illegally consuming alcohol penalty
  
• 18.2-267 Preliminary analysis of breath to
  determine alcoholic content of blood
  
• 18.2-268.1 Chemical testing to determine
  alcohol or drug content of blood definitions
  
• 18.2-268.2 Implied consent to post-arrest
  chemical test to determine drug or alcohol
  content of blood
  
• 18.2-268.3 Refusal of test procedures
• 18.2-268.4 Appeal and trial sanctions for
  refusal

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Laws cont

• 18.2-268.5 Qualifications and liability of
  persons authorized to take blood sample
  procedure for taking sample
  
• 18.2-268.6 Transmission of blood samples
• 18.2-268.7 Transmission of blood test results
  use as evidence
  
• 18.2-268.8 Fees
• 18.2-268.9 Assurance of breath-test validity
  use of test results as evidence.
  
• 18.2-268.10 Evidence of violation of 18.2-266
  or of 18.2-266.1

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Laws cont

• 18.2-268.11 Substantial compliance
• 18.2-268.12 Ordinances
• 18.2-269 Presumptions for alcoholic content of
  blood
  
• 18.2-270 Penalty for driving while intoxicated
• 18.2-270.1 Ignition interlock systems penalty
• 18.2-270.2 Ignition interlock systems
  certification by commission on VASAP
  regulations sale or lease monitoring use
  reports.
• 18.2-271 Forfeiture of drivers license for
  driving while intoxicated

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Laws cont

• 18.2-271.1 Probation, education and
  rehabilitation of person charged or convicted
  person convicted under law of another state.
  
• 18.2-271.2 Commission of VASAP
• 18.2-271.3 (repealed)
• 18.2-272 Driving after forfeiture of license
• 18.2-273 Report of conviction to Department of
  Motor Vehicles

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Other Va. Alcohol Laws

• 4.1-100 Intoxicated
• 29.1-738.4 Intoxicated or reckless operation
• 4.1-304 Intoxicated persons
• 18.2-388 Public Intoxication