The measurement range provided by the breathalyzer. It is indicated from the minimum level of alcohol in the blood that the device is able to detect, to the maximum.
It is worth choosing according to this parameter, taking into account the purposes for which it is planned to use the device, what levels of alcohol they will have to measure. For your convenience, you can use the following table:
— Up to 0.3 ‰ — asymptomatic degree of intoxication. There are no obvious signs of alcohol consumption, it is impossible to detect them without special means. In countries where there is no “zero per mille” rule for drivers, the blood alcohol level allowed for driving is usually within these limits (most often it is 0.2 ‰).
— 0.3 – 0.6 ‰ — a slight degree of intoxication. Some violation of concentration and coordination, disinhibition, talkativeness, the appearance of relaxation and euphoria.
— 0.6 – 1 ‰ — the average degree of intoxication. Dullness of sensations, weakening of self-control, loss of logic in reasoning, memory lapses after sobering up are possible.
—
1 – 2 ‰ — the degree of intoxication is above average. Speech becomes almost incomprehensible, reflexes and coordination are severely impaired, mood swings and manifestations of uncontrolled aggression are possible.
—
2 – 3 ‰ — a significant degree of intoxication: confusion and loss o
...f consciousness, severe motor impairment.
— 3 – 4 ‰ — a strong degree of intoxication: a violation of the heartbeat and breathing, uncontrolled vomiting and urination, the inability to stand and move straight.
— above 4 ‰ — a critical degree of intoxication, a fatal outcome is likely.
Note that for some breathalyzers, the lower limit of the measurement range is indicated as "0". You can estimate the lowest concentration of alcohol that such a device is guaranteed to be able to detect using the maximum error (see below): the lower limit of the range will approximately correspond to the claimed error.The time it takes the instrument to test — in other words, the time that elapses between the end of the purge and the display of the final result. This is one of the parameters that determine the performance of the device (along with the warm-up time and purge time, see above). At the same time, we note that it makes sense to specifically look for a device with a short testing time (
10 s or less) mainly for mass flow checks, when “every second counts” — for example, for pre-trip control of drivers at a large auto enterprise. If we are talking about episodic measurements — for example, individual self-control after "celebrations" once or twice a month — you can get by with a device with a
low speed.
Ability to save the results of the last few measurements in the
memory of the device. The number of available saves can be different, as well as their storage time: in some devices, the saved results are erased when turned off, in others they are stored until they are erased or overwritten. Anyway, the memory of the last measurements is useful mainly for streaming checks.
The range of air temperatures at which the breathalyzer is able to work correctly. Note that if the device goes beyond this range, the device will not necessarily fail, but there is no need to talk about the accuracy of measurements in such a situation. This parameter is especially important for models with semiconductor sensors (see "Sensor") — the correct operation of such sensors is highly dependent on the ambient temperature. It is best to use such a device at a temperature corresponding to approximately the middle of the allowable range — in this case, the error will be minimal.
The most cold-resistant modern breathalyzers are capable of operating
at sub-zero temperatures, the most resistant to heat — at temperatures of
+45 ... +50 °C.
