Corelations and Interferences of Blood Alcohol Levels Measured By Cordebard and Gascromatography-Headspace Methods

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is an organic compound belonging to the alcohol class, being the main alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is a volatile, fl ammable and colorless liquid, with a characteristic odor, being considered one of the oldest drugs consumed by humans. Taking into account the prevalence of alcohol intoxication among drivers, and also among criminal offenders, it was deemed necessary to accurately determine the blood alcohol level detected in the biological samples taken from the suspects, considering the justice system requirements regarding the application of retributive measures in direct proportion to the detected blood alcohol level. The method currently used in Romania is the modified Cordebard Nitrochromic method, which comes with certain limitations, such as the variable homogeneity of the samples that induces sampling errors, thus resulting in blood alcohol levels below the real values. For these reasons, it is deemed necessary to align the methods of ethyl alcohol dosing at a national level and to the analytical requirements of the European Union exigencies, imposing the need to adopt a new method that eliminates as many sources of error as possible, a viable candidate at the moment being the Gascromatographic-Headspace method.