Friday, March 19, 2010

Oxygenated alcohol speeds up elimination

Take heart, serious drinkers. According to Korean scientists In-hwan Baek, Byung-yo Lee and Kwang-il Kwon, upping the amount of dissolved oxygen in alcohol from 8 parts per million to 25 parts per million speeds up the elimination rate of alcohol.

In a study, 49 participants consumed 12 ounces of 40 proof vodka (?) which scientists said was the equivalent of four shots (I think that should be eight shots) and their elimination rates were measured. The group that drank the "low oxygen" vodka eliminated the alcohol from their bloodstream in five hours while the group that drank the "oxygenated" vodka eliminated it 27 minutes faster. Those that drank the "oxygenated" vodka also reached an alcohol concentration of .05 faster than those who drank the regular vodka.

According to my calculations, tripling the oxygen levels in vodka increased the elimination rate by a little under 10%. If we accept the state's expert's testimony that the "average" elimination rate is .015 an hour, that works out to an elimination rate of .0165 instead. Not a great deal - but possibly enough to be the difference on a borderline breath test.

It remains to be seen whether those results can be duplicated with regular strength drinks.

I can't wait to see the marketing campaign should oxygenated alcohol hit the American market.

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