Alcohol
SUPA Forensics
Revenson
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Drinking - - -Alcohol
• Death of An Innocent Poem
http://www.sayno.com/innocent.html
• Jim Breuer explains what happens when
you mix alcohols
http://www.funnieststuff.net/viewmovie.php?ad_key=GWUPBLAMRMFT&tracking_id=900
904&id=657
• Even Santa can have a few too many
http://www.funnieststuff.net/viewmovie.php?ad_key=GVCKWSSJIEFK&tracking_id=9087
49&id=687
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
A poem to bring it home…
Death Of An Innocent
I went to a party, Mom, I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead.
I really felt proud inside, Mom, the way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom, even though the others said I should.
I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you are always right.
Now the party is finally ending, Mom, as everyone is driving out of sight.
As I got into my car, Mom, I knew I'd get home in one piece.
Because of the way you raised me, Mom, so responsible and sweet.
I started to drive away, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road,
the other car didn't see me, Mom, and hit me like a load.
As I lay there on the pavement, Mom, I hear the policeman say,
the other guy is drunk, Mom, and now I'm the one who will pay.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
I'm lying here dying, Mom. I wish you'd get here soon.
How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.
There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll die in a short time.
I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom. The others didn't think.
He was probably at the same party as I.
The only difference is, he drank and I will die.
Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains now, Mom, pains just like a knife.
The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying, Mom, and all he can do is stare.
Tell my brother not to cry, Mom, tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heaven, Mom, put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.
Someone should have toldSUPA
him,
Mom, not to drink and drive.
Forenscis - CHE 113 If only they had told him, Mom, IRevenson
would still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always
there.
I have one last question, Mom, before I say good bye.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom, so why am I the one to die?
http://www.sayno.com/innocent.html
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Alcohols
• Organic Alcohols (R-OH)
– Methanol CH3OH (wood alcohol)
• More toxic than ethanol LD50 = 428 mg/Kg
– Ethanol C2H5OH (grain alcohol, EtOH)
• Lethal Dose LD50 (LD to 50% of the people) =
7060 mg/kg of body weight
• Brain- CNS depressant
– Propanol C3H7OH (isopropyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol)
• More toxic than Ethanol (3600 mg/Kg)
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Others Alcoholic Drinks
• Brandy. Brandy is distilled wine made from grapes. Other fruit
based liquors can be used (must be clearly identified. E.g.: Cherry
Brandy). Brandy is aged in wooden casks until it is mature. Once it
has been bottled however, it ceases to mature.
• Gin. Made from malted barley and rye and usually flavored using
juniper and other botanicals. (Occasionally it is made from corn or
molasses).
• Rum. Distilled from fermented sugar cane. Traditionally, Rum has a
distinctive brown color, but Light Rum is also produced by rapid
fermentation.
• Whiskey or Whisky. Made from fermented grain. Fermentation is
started by adding yeast or the residue from previous fermentation
before distillation.
• Sherry. Sherry is a fortified wine in which Brandy has been added to
increase the alcohol content to 15.5% to 18%. [Sherry can only be
produced in the Jerez Region in the southern Spain, and any similar
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 products made elsewhere
must
be called 'Fortified Wine’].
Revenson
Ethanol Metabolism
• Ingested alcohol passes down the esophagus and
into the stomach and on into the small intestine.
The majority of the ethyl alcohol is absorbed from
the stomach (approx. 20%) and the small intestine
(approx. 80%). More alcohol will result in
increased blood alcohol concentrations (BAC). A
number of factors can influence ethyl alcohol
absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.
– Gastric emptying - the faster gastric
emptying, the more rapid absorption. Food
delays gastric emptying and therefore delays
absorption of ethyl alcohol. The type of food
does not seem to be a factor. Physical exercise
also delays gastric emptying. Drugs (e.g.
nicotine, marijuana, and ginseng), may
modify physiological factors regulating
gastric emptying.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Alcohol Effects
• Mild Intoxication (BAC = 0.050 %w/v) - Feeling of warmth,
skin flushed, impaired judgment, decreased inhibitions.
• Obvious Intoxication in most people (BAC = 0.100 %w/v) Increased impaired judgment, inhibition, attention, slowed
reflexes.
• Obvious Intoxication in all "normal" people (BAC = 0.150
%w/v) - General lack of muscle coordination, slurred speech,
double vision, memory and comprehension loss.
• Extreme intoxication (BAC = 0.250 %w/v) - Reduced
responsiveness, inability to stand, vomitting, incontinence,
sleepiness.
• Coma occurs around 0.350 %w/v and death is likely at 0.500
%w/v.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 % w/v is
g per 100 mL
Revenson
How much is too much?
Use the intoximeter drink wheel.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Ethanol Testing
• Breath Testing - direct relationship between
BAC and amount of alcohol vapor in breath.
– Henry’s Law - When a volatile compound is dissolved in a
liquid in equilibrium with the air, there is a fixed ratio between
the concentration of the volatile compound in the air and its
concentration in the liquid (remains constant for a fixed
temperature).
• When alcohol in blood is brought into
equilibrium with air (lungs), there is a fixed
ratio between the concentration of alcohol in
air and the BAC.
• Measure the concentration of alcohol in air
tells the BAC quite reliably.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Ethanol Testing
Breath Alcohol Testing: collects and measures alcohol content
of alveolar breath.
– Ratio of alcohol in the blood to alcohol in alveoli air is 2100
to 1 (1 mL of blood to 2100 mL of alveolar breath).
– Use Henry’s Law to determine BAC.
– Determines BAC in pulmonary artery. May not be the same
as venous blood but is most reflective of alcohol getting to
the brain.
– Spectrophotometer measures absorption of light through
potassium dichromate K2Cr2O7 .
– Alcohol reacts with dichromate so less dichromate means
more alcohol. Indirect Method.
– Some use infrared light to measure alcohol in chamber
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 directly. Direct Method.
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Breathalyzer
•
Sample
Chamber
•
(52.5 mL)
•
Piston
Exhaled
3 mL of 0.025%
K2CrO4
•
•
Alcohol reacts with K2CrO4
to form acetic acid.
Amount of K2CrO4
consumed is related to
amount of alcohol presnt.
Spec. determination of
amount of K2CrO4
consumed.
Determine alcohol content in
sample.
Calculate BAC.
Breath
–Ratio of alcohol in the blood to alcohol in alveoli air is 2100 to 1 (1 mL of
blood to 2100 ml of alveolar breath). Alcohol in 52.5 mL of exhaled air is
equivalent amt. In 1/40 mL of blood.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
Legal Aspects
• Federal Law - driving on road gives “implied consent” for
testing (either take test or lose license).
• Schmerber v. California
– Pled 5th Amendment (not to self-incriminate).
– Supreme court ruled against him, stating the 5th
Amendment protects testimonial evidence not physical
evidence - therefore, he had to give his blood for testing.
– Ruled against Schmerber on Search and seizure stating that
blood sampling is an “emergency” procedure since by the
time a search warrant was obtained the BAC would have
dropped (destruction of evidence)
– Sample must be taken in a medically acceptable way without
unreasonable force and related to an accident or arrest.
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson
If you drink and drive . . .
• Jacqui’s story
SUPA Forenscis - CHE 113 Revenson