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http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime ... r-1.940457

When ever someone gets booked for alcohol use in this country, they media always reports a negligible amount of alcohol in their body like 0.01%. Recently they caught someone with 0.05% blood alcohol and it's supposedly the highest ever recorded in this country, but it's just the equivalent of 3 drinks. It would still be legal for them to drive in a lot of places.

Either the police have never caught someone driving after drinking a significant amount of alcohol, or their numbers are wrong. Neither would surprise me.

blueshift wrote:http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/six-month-jail-term-for-drink-driving-offender-1.940457

When ever someone gets booked for alcohol use in this country, they media always reports a negligible amount of alcohol in their body like 0.01%. Recently they caught someone with 0.05% blood alcohol and it's supposedly the highest ever recorded in this country, but it's just the equivalent of 3 drinks. It would still be legal for them to drive in a lot of places.

Either the police have never caught someone driving after drinking a significant amount of alcohol, or their numbers are wrong. Neither would surprise me.

Well SOMEONE has their numbers wrong! The article states the individual registered ‘535 mg/dl of alcohol in his blood’, this equates to 0.535% Blood Alcohol and not 0.05% as you state above. This is over 6.5 times the permissible limit in the most lenient Countries who enforce a limit of 80mg/dl or 0.08%. An individual weighing around 75kg would have to drink around 25 units of alcohol to achieve this level of intoxication, that’s around a gallon of strong beer or a pint of whisky! The man’s lucky not to get deported, nevertheless, the quantity is immaterial as the UAE have a zero tolerance and anything above 0% is punishable. When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

I might be wrong, but the article speaks of a breath test. The value was 535 mg.
Alcohol in breath and alcohol in blood is measured with seperate units (mg/dl <> promille). 535mg in breath equals more or less 1,2 promille in blood.

Well you can challenge my mathematics if you like, but 535 mj per dl is 535 per million which is 0.0535 % no matter how many times I check the calculation.

I get similar results for other news stories where people get sent to prison for driving with around 0.01% alcohol in their blood.

If you want to measure in the same unit, perhaps somebody from the UK can explain why the legal limits are 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and 35 mg of alcohol per 100ml in breath.

Flying Dutchman wrote:I might be wrong, but the article speaks of a breath test. The value was 535 mg.
Alcohol in breath and alcohol in blood is measured with seperate units (mg/dl <> promille). 535mg in breath equals more or less 1,2 promille in blood.

You are correct FD, the article did mention a “Breathalyser” which I missed! I picked up on the statement of “535 mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre) of alcohol in his body” which is a blood alcohol measurement and not a breathalyser measurement which would be in µg/dl (microgram per dl or 100ml), I think a breath measurement of 535mg (milligrams) would indicate pure alcohol coursing through his veins

blueshift wrote:Well you can challenge my mathematics if you like, but 535 mj per dl is 535 per million which is 0.0535 % no matter how many times I check the calculation.

I get similar results for other news stories where people get sent to prison for driving with around 0.01% alcohol in their blood.

Sorry Blueshift, but a ppm (parts per million) measurement is a volumetric ratio and not a mass to volume measurement as you are attempting to calculate, the only material you could use in such a 1:1 calculation would be water, S.I. 1l of water measures 100mm³ and weighs 1kg, or any other material with the same density, you would need to introduce an additional calculation to compensate for the difference in mass between water and alcohol for a ppm comparrison.



-- Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:37 am --

Flying Dutchman wrote:If you want to measure in the same unit, perhaps somebody from the UK can explain why the legal limits are 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and 35 mg of alcohol per 100ml in breath.

The correct legal limits in the UK;

BAC (Blood Alcohol) 80mg (milligrams) of alcohol per 100ml (millilitres) of Blood.
BrAC (Breath Alcohol) 35µg (micrograms) of alcohol per 100ml (millilitres) of Breath.

ok I get it now, mg per 100 ml. The units had me confused.