Laboratory Testing of Alcoscan Saliva-Alcohol Test Strips

Details

• Creators:
  Frank, James F. ; Flores, Arthur L.
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Driver and Pedestrian Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Alcohols
  • Laboratory tests
  • Accuracy
  • Saliva
  • Blood alcohol levels
  • Temperature
  • DWI enforcement
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT-HS-807-059
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1525571
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Abstract:
  This report describes a laboratory evaluation of Alcoscan saliva-alcohol test strips. The objectives of this work were: (1) to determine the precision and accuracy of the Alcoscan strips; and (2) to determine what effect extreme ambient temperatures have on test strip performance. The strips were saturated with alcohol-spiked saliva samples ranging in concentration from 0.03% - 0.12% BAC. In a highway safety context, the high variability in BACestimates obtained, coupled with a high proportion of false positives, suggest that this technology is not satisfactory as a screening device for law enforcement. Use by private individuals appears more promising, if the device is not used at low ambient temperatures. At room temperature and above, the chance is relatively low that the rating will falsely indicate that an individual is below the legal limit when he is not. However, given the large variability in rating accuracy at all BAClevels, the utility of the device, even for private citizens, is subject to question. /Abstract from report summary page/
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  TSC-PPA-634
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/1784/dot_1784_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 249.42 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center ; NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Research
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:528972e6d43a24419d43d4c7712aa9500753d560dad4ca1cfee2d4e4f5850dee5ee687a924399a3c75587bd20e1c2cdca4418bed067339687aa8f77bfc712b92