Blood alcohol

AuthorJames G. Wigmore
Pages25-34
25

Blood Alcohol
This chapter is organ ized into f‌ive sections: the methods of blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) analysis, the distribution of alcohol into the vari-
ous components of blood (serum, plasma, and red blood cells [RBCs]),
the ef‌fect of storage conditions (e.g., temperature) on BAC, the ef‌fects
of the use of alcohol swabs, and endogenous BACs. The average adult
human has approximately  L of whole blood, compared with approxi-
mately L of total body water. The major components of whole blood
and their approximate percentages are as follows:
Plasma — .%
RBCs (erythrocytes) — .%
White blood cells (leukocy tes) — .%
2.01 METHODS OF ANALYSIS
Currently, the most common method of forensic analysis of alcohol is
by headspace gas chromatography (GC) (–). Various enzymatic
methods of alcohol analysis are also employed, usually in a hospital set-
ting using antemortem blood (–). The alcohol concentration of
clotted blood for alcohol analysis tends to be lower as there is a loss of
alcohol during the homogenization of the blood (). Other methods
of alcohol analysis include direct injection GC (, ) and high-
pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) ().

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