[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by Jared Jordan

Alcohol in your mouth, that is not in your bloodstream, can result in the machines showing that there is alcohol in the test subject's system when there may not be. This is known as mouth alcohol. The forensic alcohol analysts that I've worked with seem to agree that within 5-6 minutes of ingesting an alcoholic substance the mouth alcohol is gone and any breath alcohol level will correspond to a blood alcohol level.

So yes, the machines CAN be fooled. However, proper testing procedure involves a minimum 15 minute observation period prior to the first blow to make sure that the test subject has not eaten or drank anything, burped, regurgitated, or vomited. The observation/waiting period serves to eliminate any tainted results.

If the proper testing procedures are followed, the machines are accurate. No doubt in my mind.

This is correct.

Ed Carpenter
Texas Highway Patrol