Breathalysers are essential tools used by law enforcement worldwide to measure a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) with speed and accuracy. These devices play a crucial role in efforts to reduce drunk driving, a leading cause of road accidents and fatalities. Yet, despite their reliability, countless myths persist about how to “trick” or “fool” a breathalyzer into showing a lower BAC, potentially allowing someone to avoid legal consequences. But how accurate are these claims, really? Are these tricks clever solutions or dangerous misconceptions?

Understanding the science behind breathalysers provides critical insight into why these myths are not only ineffective but also risky. By believing in misinformation, individuals might underestimate their impairment, putting themselves and others in danger. Beyond the immediate safety risks, attempting to cheat a breathalyzer can carry severe legal and ethical consequences, from fines and license suspensions to putting lives at risk on the road.

We’ll explore why fooling a breathalyzer is practically impossible and, most importantly, why making responsible choices—such as never drinking and driving—remains the safest and smartest approach for everyone. Understanding breathalysers isn’t just about legal accountability; it’s about ensuring the roads are safer for everyone who uses them.

How Breathalysers Work

Before tackling the myths, it’s essential to understand how breathalysers operate. Breathalysers measure the ethanol content in your breath, which corresponds to the level of alcohol in your bloodstream. Ethanol, a volatile compound, enters the lungs through the bloodstream and diffuses into the alveolar air sacs. When you exhale into the device, it captures this ethanol-containing air.

Modern devices use technologies like infrared spectroscopic analysis or fuel cell sensors to calculate the alcohol concentration in the breath. The readings estimate your BAC as a percentage. For example, if your BAC exceeds 0.08% (the legal drink-driving limit in most jurisdictions), you’re considered legally impaired.

Law enforcement officers often depend on breathalysers for quick, roadside tests, but larger, more accurate evidentiary machines are used at police stations. These measurements are highly reliable when devices are calibrated correctly and administered properly.

Debunking the Myths About Fooling a Breathalyzer

Despite the science behind breathalysers, myths about beating the system persist. Many of these techniques are ineffective, based on misinformation, or outright bizarre. Below, we debunk some of the most popular urban legends:

1. Sucking on Pennies or Copper Coins

The Myth: Sucking on a penny will neutralise the alcohol in your breath and lower your BAC reading.
Reality: This method is completely untrue. Breathalysers measure alcohol from deep lung air, not the mouth. Pennies, which nowadays are primarily made of zinc with just a surface coating of copper, do nothing to affect alcohol readings. Additionally, most police officers check to ensure your mouth is empty before testing.

2. Chewing Gum, Using Mouthwash, or Eating Mints

The Myth: Chewing gum or using minty breath fresheners will mask the alcohol in your breath.
Reality: Ethanol—the active ingredient in alcohol—is odourless. These methods may help mask the smell of other ingredients in your drink, but they won’t alter the measured ethanol levels. Ironically, products like mouthwash could increase your BAC reading since many contain alcohol.

3. Drinking Coffee or Water

The Myth: Coffee or water will dilute the alcohol in your system and help you sober up quickly.
Reality: Neither hydration nor caffeine can lower the amount of alcohol in your blood or lungs. Your liver metabolises alcohol slowly at a fixed rate, and no amount of coffee or water will alter this process.

4. Hyperventilation or Holding Your Breath

The Myth: Hyperventilating or holding your breath before the test will skew the results.
Reality: This method is partially grounded in fact. Hyperventilating may temporarily lower the alcohol concentration in exhaled air, but the reduction is minimal (around 0.014%), and officers know to watch for such attempts. Holding your breath before the test, however, can actually cause a higher BAC reading, as it gives alcohol more time to diffuse into your lungs.

5. Burping or Belching

The Myth: Burping will release air with less alcohol from your stomach and impact results.
Reality: Breathalysers only measure the ethanol evaporating from your lungs, not your stomach. Burping might increase the detection of alcohol rather than reduce it, particularly if alcohol vapours rise from your stomach.

6. Smoking a Cigarette

The Myth: Smoking a cigarette before the test disrupts the breathalyzer sensor and lowers BAC.
Reality: Smokers often have higher levels of acetaldehyde in their breath, which can confuse some older breathalysers into showing increased BAC levels. Instead of helping, this myth backfires.

7. Eating Certain Foods (Onions, Bread, or Greasy Meals)

The Myth: Eating onions, bread, or greasy foods absorbs alcohol and reduces BAC readings.
Reality: While having food in your stomach before drinking slows alcohol absorption, it has no effect once alcohol has entered your bloodstream. Once there, only time can lower your BAC.

8. Replacing Your Breath with External Air

The Myth: Breathing in instead of out or partially exhaling into the device prevents accurate readings.
Reality: Breathalysers are designed to detect a continuous, steady stream of air. Interrupting the airflow will either invalidate the test or prompt the administrator to retest you.

Why Tricking a Breathalyzer Doesn’t Work

Breathalysers are sophisticated tools designed to detect even the slightest manipulation. Most modern devices include safeguards against tampering, such as ensuring that the sample is captured only from deep lung air. Additionally, if officers suspect attempts to fool the breath test, they can escalate testing by requiring a blood or urine sample, which provides even more accurate BAC results.

Furthermore, roadside breathalyzer tests aren’t always the final evidence used in court. Evidentiary BAC readings obtained at police stations serve as crucial proof, and their accuracy is difficult to dispute.

The Legal and Ethical Risks of Trying to Cheat

Attempting to cheat a breathalyzer test not only risks failure but can lead to even harsher consequences. Beyond fines, license suspension, or legal penalties, you may face a ripple effect on your personal and professional life. Increased insurance premiums, potential job loss, especially for roles requiring a clean driving record, and a damaged reputation are just a few of the long-term impacts.

Impaired driving also endangers lives, as alcohol significantly reduces your ability to make sound decisions and react quickly. Even if you feel fine, there’s no substitute for making safe, responsible choices. Planning ahead, using alternatives like rideshares, or simply abstaining from driving after drinking are steps everyone can take to ensure safer roads. Personal responsibility isn’t just about avoiding consequences—it’s about protecting lives, including your own.

The Bottom Line: Safety First

Despite the countless myths about tricking a breathalyzer, the reality is that these devices work based on science that’s difficult to counteract. The best way to avoid a DUI and ensure your safety (and others) is simply not to drink and drive.

If you’ve had a drink or two and need to go somewhere, take a cab, call a rideshare, or appoint a designated driver. Remember, no myth, trick, or shortcut is worth risking your life or others for a few minutes of convenience.

Source

FindLaw

IFL Science