From: Robert Swotinsky MD
Date: 31 Mar 2005
Time: 17:30:08 -0800
Remote Name: 68.166.234.152
When a 170 lb man ingests 0.5 ounces of ethanol -- the typical amount in a 12 ounce, 4.2% beer, or in a 4 ounce, 12% wine -- and 30 minutes elapse, a peak blood alcohol concentration of 0.015 percent is attained. [Reference: EZ-ALC Blood Alcohol Chart Software, available for free downloads from various websites.] If one assumes the breathalyzer test was valid, then a subject weighing 170 lb would have had to have ingested 3 ounces, or the equivalent of six beers of six glasses of wine, from his alcohol-containing Nyquil to reach a peak concentration of 0.09 at 30 minutes after ingestion. Nyquil contains 10 percent ethanol. Thus, the employee would have had to have ingested 30 ounces (about a liter) of Nyquil in order to reach a BAC of 0.09 30 minutes later. Yum! It is unlikely the employee would have attained 0.09 from drinking Nyquil without misusing the product.