Any quantitative blood
alcohol analysis method
which meets the following
criteria is approved by the
state toxicologist and may
be used in the state of
Washington. Analysis of
urine for estimation of
blood alcohol concentrations
is not approved by the state
toxicologist in the state of
Washington.
The blood analysis
procedure should have the
following capabilities:
(1) Precision and
accuracy.
(a) The method shall be
capable of replicate
analyses by an analyst under
identical test conditions so
that consecutive test
results on the same date
agree with a difference
which is not more than 3% of
the mean value of the tests.
This criterion is to be
applied to blood alcohol
levels of 0.08% and higher.
(b) Except for gas
chromatography, the method
should be calibrated with
water solutions of ethyl
alcohol, the strength of
which should be determined
by an oxidimetric method
which employs a primary
standard, such as United
States National Bureau of
Standards potassium
dichromate.
(c) The method shall
give a test result which is
always less than 0.005% when
alcohol-free living subjects
are tested.
(2) Specificity.
(a) On living subjects,
the method should be free
from interferences native to
the sample, such as
therapeutics and
preservatives; or the
oxidizable material which is
being measured by the
reaction should be
identified by qualitative
test.
(b) Blood alcohol
results on post-mortem
samples should not be
reported unless the
oxidizable substance is
identified as ethanol by
qualitative test.
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