Reader’s Question:

I have heard that taking breath mints or mouthwash can interfere or fool/fake the results of breath test. I’m wondering because I heard my officemate was arrested for DWI last night in Texas and his friends were saying that he should have took a mint. Is that true?

Diane

Brownsville, Texas

Thanks for asking. No Diane, mints and mouthwash can just mask the odor from the mouth but it will not interfere the amount of alcohol in your mouth once you take the breath test in Texas. Proper and correct breath test procedure requires that the subject should have nothing in their mouth for 10 to 15 minutes before testing. If the person had taken anything with alcohol in their mouth just before the testing, the alcohol in their mouth will contaminate the test, giving an artificially high result. However, 15 minutes is adequate time for all the alcohol in the mouth to be dissipated.

It is a bit easier to fake a drug test than a breath alcohol test. In a proper drug test procedure, it should eliminate the possibilities of the subject switching their urine sample with another subject, or tampering with the specimen. Drinking large volumes of water may also dilute the urine, therefore reducing the concentrations of drugs in the urine. The detection of some drugs in the urine, such as amphetamines, is affected by the pH of the urine with some kinds of procedures. However, a properly administered breath alcohol test is difficult to fake. As long as the subject blows an adequate deep lung breath, there is no possible way to fool the concentration of the alcohol from the mouth.