In Georgia, there are three chemical tests that may be used to determine whether or not a person has alcohol or drugs in his or her system. The three tests are breath, blood, and urine tests. Today we will be discussing blood tests.
Unlike a breath test, a blood test must be administered in a hospital, clinical facility, or detention center setting by a trained professional. This makes the test less convenient than a breath test, which may be administered roadside.
One way in which blood tests are similar to breath tests is the amount of potential errors that may lead to a false result.
When blood is drawn for a chemical tests, it will almost always be taken via vacutainer, which is a vacuum-sealed container. This vacutainer should contain both sodium fluoride, which is a preservative, and potassium oxalate, an anticoagulant.
All of these containers do have an expiration date, though very few technicians, crime lab employees, or law enforcement agents pay much attention to this detail. After the expiration date, the container is no longer under warranty by the manufacturer.
One of the problems with these containers is the potential for the seal to go bad. Unfortunately, this is impossible to detect after the container has already been opened.
It is also important that there is the correct amount of sodium fluoride in the vacutainer. Having too much or too little of this substance in the container may lead to a false higher test result.
If there is not enough sodium fluoride, yeast organisms, such as Candida Albicans will begin to grow. If you know much about baking, you will know that yeast excretes ethanol through fermentation. This will be detected when the blood is screened for alcohol.
Having the correct amount of potassium oxalate is also important to ensure the integrity of the test results. If there is not enough, the blood will begin to coagulate, or clot. This changes the ratio of liquid to solid, which will lead to a faulty test result.
It’s plain to see that blood tests can have many potential problems. If the lab technician does not verify the expiration date, or if the vacutainer seal is faulty, or even the levels of sodium fluoride and potassium oxalate in the container are incorrect, inflated test results can be the result.
Is there a chemical test out there that actually produces reliable test results?
