New Year Honours 2015

Some breathalysers on sale to the UK public vary considerably in their ability to detect potentially unsafe levels of breath alcohol for driving, Oxford University researchers have found. The findings call into question the regulatory process for approving these sorts of devices for personal use, say the researchers, particularly as false reassurance about a person's safety to drive could have potentially catastrophic consequences. The Oxford University researchers compared the diagnostic accuracy, or sensitivity, of three personal use breathalysers to detect alcohol levels at or over the UK legal limit. These devices are widely available in leading pharmacies and other major retailers, as well as online. Lead researcher Dr Helen Ashdown of Oxford University's Department of Primary Care Health Sciences says: 'Our research suggests that at least some personal breathalysers available for sale to the public are not always sufficiently sensitive to test safety to drive after drinking alcohol, where use of inaccurate information from breathalysers, thought to be accurate, could have catastrophic safety implications for drivers.' She adds: 'The safer thing is to choose non-alcoholic alternatives and never drink and drive.' The study, published in the online journal BMJ Open , included 208 adults who were drinking in college bars and pubs in the centre of Oxford in late 2012 and early 2013. Dr Susannah Fleming says: 'We identified three breathalysers available for sale in high street shops in the UK, and compared them to a police standard breathalyser, to test how accurate they were at detecting being over the legal driving limit, on the evening of drinking alcohol.