Hand sanitizer causes false drunk test

A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control shows that a breath alcohol administrator can influence the result of the test if he or she has used a hand sanitizer.

In the study, the person giving the breath test first tested each of 10 volunteers to get a baseline reading. Then the test administrator used a 70 percent ethanol hand sanitizer. Then the he performed a second test on the volunteers. All the volunteers were sober.

But if the tester used hand sanitizer immediately before administering the test, each volunteer was rated at nearly twice the legal alcohol limit.

On the other hand, if the tester used gloves, no changes were evident.