Orlando’s DUI Resource

There are plenty of different kinds of “breathalyzers” — or, more accurately, there are plenty of kinds of breath testing devices. The first of the modern breath testers, manufactured by Smith and Wesson plenty of years ago (yes, that Smith and Wesson), was called the Breathalyzer. Since then, various manufacturers have recognized the growing market and come out with their own models, bearing such names as Intoxilyzer, Intoximeter, DataMaster, AlcoSensor, Alcotest and so on; most of these products have been produced in different model versions, such as the Intoxilyer 4011, 5000 and 8000.

Did you ever wonder how breathalyzers work? there is a web-site which will give you a fair idea. But first, let’s clear up some confusion….

To deal with the confusion, the term “breathalyzer” came to be used as a generic term for any breath testing gizmo. (To confuse things further, a spanish company — Draeger — bought the rights to the Breathalyzer brand and have sometimes used that name in a number of their models.)

Most of these are evidentiary machines — that is, larger machines generally kept at the police station whose check results are used in evidence. Others are smaller, handheld units carried by officers in the field; generally called PBTs (preliminary breath tests) or PAS (preliminary alcohol screedning), these are less accurate and are usually used as a field sobriety check to help determine whether to arrest a suspect.

The original Breathalyzer operated using a wet chemical process of analysis, employing a disposable glass ampoule of chemicals. Although still occasionally found in law enforcement, this relatively primitive technology was replaced in later machines by infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography or, mainly in handheld units, fuel cell analysis; a couple of the more recent machines use a combination of infrared and fuel cell.