Nothing will make your heart beat faster than a police officer’s lights in your rearview. While you feel confident you did not break the law, the officer may still ask you to submit to a breath test. What happens, though, if it comes back positive even if you have not had alcohol?
Become familiar with the conditions and medications that may impact a roadside breath test.
Do you have asthma?
Asthmatics often rely on inhalers to keep airways open and make breathing easier. However, these inhalers may lead to a false positive on a breath test. The medication contained in respiratory inhalers can linger at the back of the throat so that when you take a breath test, the machine can pick these chemicals up.
Are you diabetic?
Diabetes is a common medical condition that can lead to a false positive breath test. Part of this is due to the way the body breaks sugar and carbohydrates down to get nutrients. Diabetics may have a high number of ketones, a side effect of insufficient insulin breakdown of food. Ketones may lead to increased levels of natural alcohol or acetones in the saliva and breath. If you follow a ketogenic diet, you may also have a larger amount of ketones and thus get a false positive result.
Remain diligent about labels on over-the-counter medications, as some of the most popular container trace amounts of alcohol and other chemicals that may land you in trouble should an officer administer a breath test.
