[Blood ethanol: analytical and forensic aspects]

Abstract

An appraisal of the French legislation concerning blood alcohol level is presented with a review of all the problems resulting from the interpretation of results as well as the relationship to judicial authorities for expert biologists and hospital laboratories. Recent results concerning the gaseous exchange of ethanol at the pulmonary level give a response to the long lasting contradictory debate concerning the ratio, blood alcohol levels - ethylometry. The results of recent studies on the digestive metabolism of ethanol explain, at least partly, the great variability.