Page 20 - November December Issue
P. 20
How Do Breath Machines Work?
Figure 3: The IR Detection System of the Intoxilyzer 5000
Combination (EC and IR)
Infrared and electrochemical detectors have been combined in some breath testing instruments. Typically the
EC detector is used to measure the alcohol concentration in breath and IR is used to monitor for mouth alcohol.
The use of both systems allow for greater speciicity.
The following Table lists several commonly used breath alcohol testing instruments and their detection system.
Breath Testing Detection System
Instrument
Alcosensor IV EC
Alcotest (E-PASS) EC
Intoxilyzer 5000 IR (3.39, 3.48, and 3.90 microns)
Intoxilyzer 8000 IR (3.4 and 9.4 microns)
BAC Datamaster IR (3.37 and 3.48 microns)
Datamaster DMT IR (3.37, 3.44 and 3.50 microns)
Intox EC/IR EC
IR (3.46 and 4.26 microns)
Table 1: Alcohol Detectors used in Common Evidential Breath Alcohol Instruments
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Figure 3: The IR Detection System of the Intoxilyzer 5000
Combination (EC and IR)
Infrared and electrochemical detectors have been combined in some breath testing instruments. Typically the
EC detector is used to measure the alcohol concentration in breath and IR is used to monitor for mouth alcohol.
The use of both systems allow for greater speciicity.
The following Table lists several commonly used breath alcohol testing instruments and their detection system.
Breath Testing Detection System
Instrument
Alcosensor IV EC
Alcotest (E-PASS) EC
Intoxilyzer 5000 IR (3.39, 3.48, and 3.90 microns)
Intoxilyzer 8000 IR (3.4 and 9.4 microns)
BAC Datamaster IR (3.37 and 3.48 microns)
Datamaster DMT IR (3.37, 3.44 and 3.50 microns)
Intox EC/IR EC
IR (3.46 and 4.26 microns)
Table 1: Alcohol Detectors used in Common Evidential Breath Alcohol Instruments
20
