Blood alcohol concentration and breath alcohol concentration explained

Blood alcohol concentration and breath alcohol concentration are similar but different. Ignition interlock device technology uses breath alcohol concentration. 

BAC and BrAC: The Difference

BAC stands for blood alcohol concentration and BrAC stands for breath alcohol concentration. They both measure the alcohol content in your body but they do so in different ways. So it may seem obvious that one will measure your alcohol concentration through your blood and the other will measure through your breath, but let's talk about why BrAC is used in breathalyzers.

Breath Alcohol Concentration is used for IIDs

To understand why BrAC is used in ignition interlock technology rather than BAC, we need to go through the science of alcohol consumption.

When you consume alcohol, you can eliminate it in several ways. This can happen through urine, sweat, or breath. Alcohol can be measured with your breath due to this elimination process in your body, so using BrAC is a reliable method to detect your alcohol concentration.

BrAC and BAC are in direct correlation with each other. Therefore by measuring breath alcohol concentration, you're essentially measuring the amount of alcohol in a person's blood. Using BrAC is less invasive than BAC, measuring BAC would mean you’d have to do a blood draw. This is one big reason BrAC is what alcohol monitoring devices use.

One current limitation to breath testing is that it only measures alcohol, whereas a blood test can measure alcohol and drugs. Measuring your BrAC works for ignition interlock device technology since measuring the alcohol content and separating drinking from driving is the alcohol tester device's purpose. 

Let Smart Start of Alabama's BrAC technology help you

Research, evaluation, and litigation prove the reliability of using breath testing to measure alcohol content. We have been in the state for many years, setting the standard and raising the bar in the alcohol monitoring industry. Our products work. Contact us so our products can work for you.