Minutes after ingestion of alcohol, it appears in the blood and slowly increases in concentration as it is being absorbed and distributed throughout the blood plasma. Blood plasma contains red blood cells and hemoglobin, and if a person has anemia they lack hemoglobin and iron. When blood is taken for a DUI case, hemoglobin concentration is not factored in the blood alcohol test, and the effects of this deficit on the results are not known. A qualitative investigation was conducted to determine if there is a variation in BAC between varying hemoglobin levels. Citrated pooled bovine blood was used in this analysis, and tested with a hemoglobin assay kit and analyzed under UV-VIS to determine the hemoglobin level of the blood. Once determined, the blood and 4.75% ethanol was analyzed with FT-IR to obtain its standard spectra. A blood and ethanol combination was examined and compared to the standard blood spectra. An iron chelation solution introduced to the blood was tested to determine if there is a lower hemoglobin level. FT-IR will be used to obtain its spectra and compare it to the spectra of the standard blood to see if hemoglobin levels affect BAC.

Determination of BAC in varying hemoglobin levels

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.